ABSTRACT
True crime as a genre often capitalizes on salacious headlines and grotesque stories to capture the attention of audiences. Often, if there are survivors, including families, they are left out of media coverage, in favor of the fixation on death (in true “if it bleeds, it leads” fashion). This has disastrous consequences as content graphically describing death is placed above those who live with the long-term consequences of their victimization and true crime itself tends to fixate on murder and serial killings. In the current chapter, I use this lens to critique how the media covers the treatment of trans women who fled their home countries based on fear of trans-motivated violence. All these women upon seeking asylum at the border with Mexico were subsequently held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the United States. Specifically, I compare the media fixation on the deaths of Johana Medina Leon and Roxsana Hernandez to the accounts of (the still living) Alejandra Alor Reyes, Shakira Najera Chile, and Kelly Gonzalez Aguilar, all of whom report similar treatment that led to the deaths of Johana and Roxsana. Unsurprisingly, the coverage of Johana and Roxsana's death greatly outnumbered the combined accounts of Alejandra Alor Reyes, Shakira Najera Chile, and Kelly Gonzalez Aguilar. This chapter addresses: What are the differences in coverage among those who died in custody and those who survived, and why does it matter?
