Rest in Power, Jahaira DeAlto

We are heartbroken over the murder of our sister, Jahaira DeAlto. Jahaira, a Casa Myrna SafeLink hotline Advocate, was killed in a double homicide in Dorchester on Sunday, May 2. She, along with Fatima Yasin, was allegedly killed by Yasin’s husband, Marcus Chavis.

There were no limits to Jahaira’s compassion, empathy, and love for others – her light radiated from the Berkshires to Boston. She turned every obstacle in life into a strength and a way to help others. She was an activist, an advocate, a nurturer, a leader, an educator, and a friend. Not just a job, she considered her work at SafeLink as fulfilling her calling to help others. As an advocate, she answered calls from survivors seeking support, resources, and answers; and she educated other callers about domestic violence and how to help survivors. She shared her own experience of abuse to bring awareness to and end sexual and domestic violence. Prior to working at Casa Myrna, she was an advocate at our sister organization, the Elizabeth Freeman Center, in Pittsfield.

She was a leader in the trans community and a mother and aunty to queer youth. She was a founder of the Berkshire Transgender Day of Remembrance and Berkshire Pride Festival. For Mother’s Day 2020, she said “I am the mother who raised the children whose rainbow sparkled too brightly and blinded their birth moms. I cherished what they discarded. I took on earthly assignments for the moms who’d earned their Heavenly reward. For their babies who still needed raising. I did that.” You can read more about her in a beautiful tribute in Out magazine.

DeAlto is the seventh trans woman of color to be killed in a month and the 21st reported trans killing this year, putting 2021 on track to be the deadliest on record for trans Americans.

Whether working to end abuse or to ensure that queer youth felt loved and seen, she believed that “education is our greatest weapon against ignorance.” Our hearts ache for her family and friends. Her death is a great loss for the LGBTQ community and all survivors of domestic and sexual violence.