A Michigan prosecutor team specializing in LGBTQ+ attacks has a 100% conviction rate
Detroit — Without the help of the people at the Fair Michigan Justice Project, Bridget Butts would never have testified against the man who killed her close friend.
Butts, 35, of Detroit, is transgender and didn’t trust police or prosecutors. But she was the key witness in the trial of Albert Weathers, a Detroit pastor who killed her friend Kelly Stough, who was also transgender.
The Fair Michigan Justice Project was launched in 2016 by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and later Attorney General Dana Nessel after they declared there was a rise in murders of transgender women of color. The project’s goal is to support and prosecute murders and assaults against people in the LGBTQ+ community. The Justice Project has since expanded to Oakland and Washtenaw counties.
The project has handled 32 cases in Wayne County, three of which are still pending. They involve murder, attempted murder, assault, child abuse, extortion, sexual assault, armed robbery, ethnic intimidation and stalking. It handles cases in which people have been targeted because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
In prosecutions conducted through the Justice Project, the conviction rate is 100%, said Justice Project victim advocate Julisa Abad, who is transgender.
“It has changed my community’s attitude toward law enforcement,” Abad said. “It has made them report crimes that have nothing to do with their sexual orientation or gender.”
In addition, there are still unsolved cases – including the murders of Hayden Davis (28) and Amber Monroe (20) and the non-fatal shooting of Keanna Mattel – that will be addressed as part of the Justice Project if they are solved.
“This is a marginalized community that has been really poorly treated by law enforcement,” said Special Prosecutor Kam Towns, who was formerly an assistant district attorney in Wayne County. “They really appreciate the fact that there is a special project that focuses solely on them and the issues that they face. Some are really surprised. Some say, ‘I didn’t think people cared much about the community,’ which always breaks my heart.”
“Before her, I didn’t trust the police”
While Butts initially knew Abad as a black trans woman, Abad became a bigger part of her life when Butts testified in Weathers’ murder trial for killing Stough.
Butts said she was terrified to testify and was grateful for the help of Abad and Fair Michigan throughout the case. They had placed her in a witness protection program because Weathers of Sterling Heights had been released on bail and they were concerned for her safety. They also gave her emergency assistance to make sure her basic needs were met.
“Julisa just did a great job,” Butts said. “Before her, I didn’t trust the police. I would never have given interviews (before), that would have been a big no-no. … I don’t think that (the testimony against Weathers) could have or would have happened if it hadn’t been for Julisa. We don’t see any other victim advocates for trans women. And if we do, they’re not of color.”
In 2023, Weathers pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated weapons offense. As part of a plea agreement, Weathers received eight years for the second-degree murder and two years for the aggravated weapons offense.
During a press conference in March after Carlos Scotland was charged with the June 2023 murder of Ashia Davis, Worthy lamented how often the deaths of Black trans women go unnoticed. She recalled a series of murders of Black trans women near Palmer Park in Detroit in 2014, before the Fair Michigan Project was launched, and “nobody seemed to care at all.”
But now the authorities are working to change that, Worthy said.
Towns said she handled an interesting and challenging ethnic intimidation case in which a transgender woman was shot in the shoulder at a gas station after she rejected the sexual advances of Deonton Rogers and Rogers learned she was transgender.
The case went through all the appellate courts after a judge challenged the legality of the ethnic intimidation claim and dismissed the case. Both the Michigan Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court agreed that a transgender identity falls under a protected sex class.
The victim in this case had no faith that Towns would keep her promises, Towns said, and was relieved when Rogers was sentenced to three and a half to five years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and ethnic intimidation.
“It was very gratifying because not only did the victim get justice, but the court system was trained to deal with ethnic intimidation cases,” Towns said. “I think she was afraid that the system wouldn’t treat her fairly or that people wouldn’t fight for her cause. She was distrustful of the system. She had experienced discrimination for years.”
Gaining the trust of the trans community
Abad said when she moved to Detroit, she had to do sex work to survive. She reached out to Fair Michigan and told the group she needed someone who would believe in her and work with her to make changes in the system and address some of the inequities.
“If not me, who? And if not now, when? I’ve seen the impact and how we’ve truly changed hundreds of lives,” Abad said. “I’ve changed policies that, even if I’m not here tomorrow, have changed the trajectory of how many transgender people in Michigan can be their authentic selves.”
Because she is a trans woman of color herself, she says it’s easier for people to trust her. But it can be harder for her because she faces attacks on her own community. In the past eight years, she says she has lost six friends to murder.
“A lot of people who do this work can go home and zone out because they don’t know these people,” Abad said. “But these are people I see in my daily life. For me, it’s something I think about every day.”
The Justice Project works to ensure that police and courts address victims or witnesses by their preferred name and pronouns. Abad spoke about a case in which a transgender man was raped by two men eight years before charges were filed. Since the rape, he has officially changed his name, had breast surgery and grown a beard.
She had to prepare him for the fact that he would be referred to by his dead name and that prosecutors would have to explain to the jury why a man on the witness stand would talk about what happened in his vagina, Abad said.
Other Missions of the Fair Michigan Justice Project
Towns and Abad train police and other agencies, such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in cultural competency. She and Abad act as a bridge between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community to get them to report crimes.
Towns said she was shocked by the level of hate she has experienced towards the LGBTQ+ community, including comments from police officers when she goes to precincts to teach. It is disheartening, she said. She appeals to her job as a police officer and encourages them to think about how they can help people rather than thinking about their personal views on the LGBTQ+ community.
Both conduct outreach to ensure the LGBTQ+ community knows what resources are available to them: a free name change clinic for transgender people, a clothing bank for court hearings and interviews, and mental health services.
All transgender people can come to the name change clinic, Abad said. They just have to live in Wayne, Macomb or Oakland County and make less than $27,000 a year. They can call them at (877) 432-4764 and select the third option for them.
Many victims, particularly trans women, struggle with issues that make it difficult for them to appear in court, Abad said. Their clothing may consist of the fishnet stockings, high heels and short skirts they wear while doing sex work, and they may not appear in court because they “can’t be authentically themselves or feel appropriate in court,” she said.
The wardrobe can help, she said, allowing people to wear casual business attire to auditions.
They also help with transportation or reporting crimes so people feel safe. If someone doesn’t feel safe at the police station, a Detroit police liaison officer can come to LGBTQ+ rooms to interview the person, Abad said. They also offer free mental health services and an LGBTQ+ clinic for people.
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