A Black transgender lady and the man she was secretly courting had simply been pulled over in rural South Carolina. Dime Doe, the driving force, was apprehensive. She already had factors towards her license and did not need one other ticket to cease her from getting behind the wheel. Daqua Lameek Ritter, whom she affectionately known as “my man,” steadily relied on her for rides.
Every thing appeared to end up OK: Doe despatched a textual content message to her mom that afternoon saying she bought a USD 72 ticket however was “alright.”
Hours later, police discovered her slumped over within the driver’s seat of her automobile, parked in a driveway off a secluded highway. Her demise on August 4, 2019, is now the topic of the nation’s first federal trial over an alleged hate crime primarily based on gender identification, which began Tuesday.
A lot of what transpired within the roughly two-and-a-half hours between the final time Doe was seen and the invention of her physique stays unclear. However as prosecutors wrap up their case this week, extra particulars are rising concerning the furtive connection between the 24-year-old Doe — remembered by mates as an outspoken get together lover with lengthy lashes and blunt bob hairstyles — and Ritter, a person whose distinctive left wrist tattoo is captured in physique digital camera footage from the visitors cease.
The US Division of Justice alleges that Ritter fatally shot Doe to forestall additional publicity of their affair in a small nation city the place the rumor mill was already churning. Textual content exchanges between the pair present Ritter tried to dispel gossip of the dalliance within the weeks previous Doe’s demise. He additionally adopted the investigation of her killing whereas coyly answering his common girlfriend’s questions, based on testimony given in the course of the trial.
It was no secret in Allendale, South Carolina — a city of 8,000 individuals — that Doe had begun her social transition as a lady shortly after graduating highschool, based on testimony from her shut mates. Doe began dressing in skirts, getting her nails achieved and carrying extensions. She and her mates went out consuming. They mentioned boys they have been seeing.
A kind of boys was Ritter, who got here from New York to stick with his grandmother in Allendale in the course of the summertime. Doe and Ritter began to develop shut over the course of these visits, leaving Delasia Inexperienced — Ritter’s common girlfriend in the summertime of 2019 — with a “intestine feeling” that one thing was up.
Ritter initially informed Inexperienced that he and Doe have been cousins, the girlfriend testified this week. However then at some point, she discovered messages on his cellphone from an unsaved quantity that spoke of “getting a room.” She assumed they have been from Doe.
When Inexperienced confronted Ritter, he grew to become upset and informed her that she should not query his sexuality, she stated.
Yanna Albany, Doe’s cousin, testified that she too had a relationship with Ritter that summer time however ended it after about three weeks when Doe informed her she was additionally seeing him. Albany stated when she broke up with Ritter, he turned purple, threatened to beat Doe for “mendacity on him” and used a homophobic slur.
Nonetheless, Doe’s relationship with Ritter appeared to develop stronger after the entanglement, Albany stated. Different mates stated Doe by no means talked about any drama between the 2.
Nonetheless, texts obtained by the FBI recommend that Ritter sought to maintain their connection below wraps as a lot as attainable. He would remind Doe to delete their communications from her cellphone, and nearly all of the a whole bunch of texts despatched within the month earlier than her demise have been eliminated.
Shortly earlier than Doe’s demise, the textual content messages began getting tense. In a July 29, 2019, message, she complained that Ritter didn’t reciprocate her generosity towards him. He replied that he thought they’d an understanding that she did not want the “further stuff.” He additionally informed her that Inexperienced had lately insulted him with a homophobic slur. In a July 31 textual content, Doe stated she felt used and that Ritter ought to by no means have let his girlfriend discover out about them.
Ritter’s protection attorneys stated the sampling of messages launched by the prosecution represented solely a “snapshot” of their exchanges. They pointed to a July 18 textual content through which Doe inspired Ritter, and one other alternate the place Ritter thanked Doe for considered one of her many kindnesses.
However witnesses delivered different doubtlessly damning testimony towards Ritter.
On the day Doe died, a bunch of mates noticed the defendant journey away in a silver automobile with tinted home windows — a automobile that Ritter’s acquaintance Kordell Jenkins testified he had seen Doe drive beforehand. When Ritter returned to play playing cards a number of hours later, Jenkins stated he wore a brand new outfit and appeared “on edge.” It was a buggy summer time day, and the group of 4 started constructing a hearth in a barrel to smoke out the mosquitoes.
At one level, Ritter emptied his e-book bag into the barrel, Jenkins testified. He stated he could not see the contents, however assumed they have been objects Ritter now not needed, probably the garments he’d worn earlier that day.
When the 2 bumped into one another the next day, Jenkins stated he may see the silver deal with of a small firearm protruding from the waistline of Ritter’s pants. He stated Ritter requested him to “get it gone.”
Protection attorneys argued it was preposterous to assume that Ritter would ask somebody he barely knew to eliminate an alleged homicide weapon.
However quickly after Doe died, Allendale was abuzz with rumors that Ritter had killed her.
Inexperienced testified that when he confirmed up later that week at her cousin’s home in Columbia, he was soiled, smelly and could not cease pacing. Her cousin’s boyfriend gave Ritter a journey to the bus cease, presumably so he may return to New York. Earlier than he left, Inexperienced requested him if he had killed Doe.
“He dropped his head and gave me a bit smirk,” Inexperienced stated.
Ritter monitored the fallout from Doe’s demise from New York, based on FBI Particular Agent Clay Trippi, citing Fb messages between Ritter and a good friend from Allendale, Xavier Pinckney. On August 11, Pinckney informed Ritter no person was “actually speaking,” which Trippi stated he took as a reference to scant cooperation with police.
However by August 14, Pinckney was warning Ritter to keep away from Allendale as a result of he’d been visited by state police. He later stated that someone was “snitching.”
Trippi testified that his sources by no means once more noticed Ritter in Allendale for the summers following Doe’s demise.
In January 2023, federal officers charged Ritter with a “hate crime for the homicide of a transgender lady due to her gender identification,” utilizing a firearm in reference to the hate crime and obstruction of justice. Additionally they charged Pinckney with obstructing justice, saying he offered false and deceptive statements.
