Cold Case Quest: JoJo Striker

Although JoJo Striker’s story had quite a bit of press in 2017, the case has not been solved yet. Striker was the third transgender woman of color murdered in the United States during 2017.

She was 23 years old and living in Toledo, Ohio. Striker was found in a parking garage after being shot. No one has said whether she was shot somewhere else. The police didn’t have many leads at the time and even fewer now.

Her mother believes that Striker’s murder is a hate crime. She’s not wrong. Any number of hate-filled circumstances could have led to someone shooting her. Maybe the situation didn’t start out with evil intentions but it ended that way.

Some of the articles about Striker mention that her gender was misidentified by the media. Someone may have witnessed something that could give the police a clue but didn’t know that Striker was transgender. The possible witness could have heard about the case of a man being killed and doesn’t make the connection to what they saw. Even her obituary is under her old name. It could be very confusing to any witness.

Striker is not listed on the Ohio Attorney General’s website which lists unsolved homicides. Is it possible that they aren’t listing every transgender homicide? Maybe. So far I’ve only seen one unsolved transgender victim listed on the website. Whoever is in charge of…