A Hateful Homicide — Season 7, Episode 7The Murder of Alexa Negrón Luciano: “Murdered at McDonald’s”

February 24, 2020 — Toa Baja, Puerto Rico

Before Alexa Negrón Luciano was murdered, a social-media accusation turned a trip to a McDonald’s bathroom into a viral spectacle—and placed a transgender woman at the center of a wave of harassment, humiliation, and transphobic hostility.

Alexa, a transgender woman experiencing homelessness, had been accused online of looking underneath a bathroom stall with a mirror while using the women’s restroom at a fast-food restaurant. Authorities found no proof of the accusation, yet images and allegations about the incident spread rapidly across social media.

Hours later, Alexa was found fatally shot along Road 165 near the Campanilla Ward of Toa Baja. The FBI continues to seek information about her murder and has offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the indictment and arrest of those responsible.

But Alexa's story does not end with her murder.

This episode examines the disturbing chain of events surrounding her final hours—from the McDonald’s bathroom controversy and the rapid spread of online accusations to the violence that followed. It also examines the documented hate-crime assault against Alexa earlier that same day. Two men later pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime conspiracy related to that assault and were sentenced to prison, but those convictions did not resolve Alexa’s killing. No one has been charged with her actual murder.

Who was Alexa Negrón Luciano beyond the headlines?

How did an unproven accusation become a catalyst for public harassment?

What happens when social media turns misinformation into a weapon?

And who murdered Alexa?

A Hateful Homicide revisits Alexa’s story to center her humanity—not the accusations made against her—and to examine the consequences of transphobia, online harassment, homelessness, and the dehumanization of transgender women.

Her name was Alexa.
She deserved safety.
She deserved dignity.
She deserved justice.

This episode is dedicated to remembering Alexa Negrón Luciano and keeping her name—and the unanswered questions surrounding her murder—from being forgotten.

“Murdered at McDonald’s”

A HATEFUL HOMICIDESeason 7, Episode 7 The Murder of Luo Shin: “The Bathroom Murder”

Wednesday, March 9, 2022 — Wupan, China

On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, a disturbing murder in Wupan, China would leave a community searching for answers and bring another transgender life into the spotlight of an investigation.

A Hateful Homicide examines the case of Luo Shin, whose life came to a tragic end in what investigators identified as a horrifying bathroom murder.

“The Bathroom Murder” follows the known timeline of Luo's final hours, the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body, and the investigation that followed. The episode examines the evidence, unanswered questions, and investigative challenges surrounding the case while seeking to separate documented facts from speculation.

But behind the circumstances of Luo's death was a human being with a life, relationships, hopes, and a story that deserves to be remembered beyond the details of a crime scene.

The episode also examines the broader challenges faced by transgender and gender-diverse people in China, including social stigma, discrimination, visibility, and the difficulties that can arise when violence against marginalized communities receives limited attention.

As the investigation unfolds, A Hateful Homicide asks:

Who was Luo Shin?

What happened inside that bathroom on March 9, 2022?

Who knew the truth—and what questions remain unanswered?

Through investigative storytelling and community-centered remembrance, “The Bathroom Murder” seeks to ensure that Luo is remembered not simply as the subject of a crime, but as a person whose life mattered.

A Hateful Homicide — Season 7, Episode 6: “The Bathroom Murder.”

Every case has a victim. Every victim has a story.

A HATEFUL HOMICIDE — SEASON 7, EPISODE 5

The Murder of Brianna Ghey: “The Kill List”

On February 11, 2023, 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, a transgender girl from Warrington, England, was lured to Culcheth Linear Park, where she was murdered in a planned knife attack.

“The Kill List” examines the murder of Brianna Ghey, the disturbing communications and planning that preceded her death, and the investigation and trial that followed. Brianna's killers, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, were both 15 at the time of the murder. Investigators uncovered messages in which the teenagers discussed murder and maintained a “kill list” that included Brianna and other young people.

The episode explores how Brianna was targeted, the events leading to the fatal meeting, and the evidence presented at Manchester Crown Court. The court heard evidence concerning both the extensive planning of the killing and the defendants' communications about Brianna's transgender identity. At sentencing, Mrs Justice Yip found that hostility toward Brianna because she was transgender was a secondary motive in the murder.

The episode also examines the complicated question of motive. Evidence presented during the proceedings described violent fantasies, fascination with murder and discussions about other potential victims. At the same time, the defendants' lawyers offered differing explanations of their individual motivations. Rather than reducing Brianna's murder to a single explanation, A Hateful Homicide examines what the evidence established, what remained contested, and what the court ultimately determined.

Brianna's case also provides an opportunity to examine how transgender identity can intersect with criminal investigations, hate-crime law, media reporting, and the treatment of transgender victims. Under England and Wales' Sentencing Act 2020 framework, demonstrated hostility toward a transgender victim or an offence motivated wholly or partly by hostility toward transgender people can constitute an aggravating factor at sentencing.

At the center of this episode, however, is Brianna—not the people who killed her.

A daughter.
A friend.
A teenager with a future ahead of her.
A transgender girl whose life was violently taken.

“The Kill List” asks difficult questions about violence, transphobia, adolescent radicalization, online influences, friendship, accountability, and the warning signs that can be overlooked before violence becomes reality.

But most importantly, it asks us to remember the person behind the headline:

Brianna Ghey deserved to live.

A Hateful Homicide

Season 7, Episode 5 — “The Kill List”

Remember the victim. Investigate the truth. Tell their stories.