Trans woman Chyna Carrillo has died following a brutal assault in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. She was just 24-years-old.

Police in Pennsylvania received reports of an attack at a residence on the morning of 18 February, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

When officers arrived, they found the suspect violently assaulting Carrillo in the yard of a home. They ordered him to stop his attack, but he ignored police commands.

Officers then shot the assailant and he died at the scene. Carrillo was rushed to St Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, where she died shortly afterwards.

Carrillo’s death makes her at least the seventh known trans person killed so far in 2021 in the United States.

The nursing home worker was originally from Arkansas, but had reportedly moved to Pennsylvania to start a new life.

Chyna was very young and did not deserve to have her life cut short.

There has been an outpouring of grief from friends and family of Carrillo, who heaped praise on the young Latinx woman, with some describing her as confident and outspoken.

Her aunt Mayra Carrillo described Chyna as a “beautiful, magical mermaid”.

“I always called her that,” she said. “She’s my mermaid, and we miss her. We miss her terribly.”

Trans woman Chyna Carrillo had her life ‘cut short’.

Megan Godfrey, a state representative for Arkansas, said there is “a lot of heartbreak” in their community following her death.

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“We need a hate crimes law that protects all, including transgender Arkansans, from hate-motivated violence,” she tweeted.

“And we don’t need laws that permit and embolden discrimination against trans Arkansans,” she added, before sending love to Carrillo’s family.

Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the transgender justice initiative at the Human Rights Campaign, said the rate of violence against trans people so far this year is “devastating”.

“Chyna was very young and did not deserve to have her life cut short. Already in 2021, we’ve lost too many trans lives.

“If this alarming rate of fatal violence persists, we will either match or surpass last year’s total number of 44 deaths, which marked 2020 as the deadliest year on record for our community.

“We must speak up and speak out. Everyone must take action to end the violence against our community and we must do so together as one LGBTQ community.”