Trans woman Meghan Riley Lewis, who was shot dead in Bel Air, has been remembered as an “incredible person”. 

On Wednesday (27 December), Lewis, who was a mum-of-two, was shot and killed in the parking lot of her apartment complex. 

Brian Delen, 47, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and firearms charges in relation to the incident. He is currently being held without bond.

Bel Air Police said Delen was delivering food at around 6.30pm to the English Country Manor neighbourhood when he got into an argument with Lewis that turned physical. Dylan pulled out a gun and shot Lewis once in the torso. 

“He was standing there, pretty much surrendered to us, so officers placed him in custody and they recovered a firearm from his person — a loaded firearm,” Bel Air Police Chief Charles Moore said.

Lewis was found in the parking lot and taken to hospital where she died.

On X/Twitter, trans journalist Erin Reed remembered Lewis as an “incredible person”. 

She wrote that Lewis was a “fixture in the community and loved by many”, adding: “we were just chatting only a few days ago about how she was devoting her life to feeding hungry and unhoused queer people.”

In a message shared by Reed, Lewis shared her work with the hungry and homeless queer community. She signed off the message “stay sparkly”. 

According to WJZ, friends of Lewis said she was “a very open, loving and sparkly individual,” and “her catchphrase for everything was ‘stay sparkly.’”

They added that she founded a patient support group for trans individuals coming to Baltimore for life-saving surgery, and she opened her door to anyone who needed support.

So far in 2023, The Human Rights Campaign has recorded the deaths of at least 30 trans and gender non-conforming people whose lives have been tragically and inhumanely taken through violent means.