Daniela Calderon-Rivera

As transgender people and their allies prepare for Transgender Day of Remembrance services across the Metroplex — and across the country — taking place this evening, one Dallas trans woman is preparing to take to the streets to demand justice.

Daniela Calderon-Rivera was shot six times in the abdomen, hip, chest and arm on Sept. 20 in Northwest Dallas by a man who had approached her for sex but then — when he learned she was transgender — decided to try and kill her instead, shouting homophobic and transphobic epithets as he shot her.

The attack left Calderon-Rivera with critical injuries that required surgery and a lengthy hospital stay. Two months later, she is still struggling to recover.

Within four days of the shooting, police had arrested Domingo Ramirez-Cayente, 29, and he confessed to having shot Calderon-Rivera. But Judge Hal Turley set bond for Ramirez-Cayente at only $25,000. Before his victim was even able to leave the hospital, Ramirez-Cayente had posted bail — and fled the country.

At it wasn’t the first time he had left the country while out on bail.

At the time, Kimberlee Leach, director of communications and public information officer for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, told Dallas Voice, “The magistrate set the bond too low. The magistrate set the bond at $25,000 with no [electronic leg monitor].”

Leach noted that Ramirez-Cayente, a Mexican national, has a record of previous criminal activity and had, in the past, fled the country to avoid prosecution, returning to the U.S. later. Because of that, she said, “As soon as the DA’s office was made aware of the low bond, we moved to amend the conditions of bond to include a monitoring device. Unfortunately, the defendant had already fled.”

Now Calderon-Rivera and her supporters are demanding that Dallas County officials bring her attacker to justice.

Calderon-Rivera, her friend Stacey Monroe,  Transgender Education Network of Texas, Human Rights Campaign DFW, Transgender Pride of Dallas, QueerBomb Dallas and others in the community are staging a rally on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 6 p.m. outside of the Frank Crowley Criminal Courts Building to call on Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall, Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown, the FBI and the Consulate of Mexico collaborate in finding Ramirez-Cayente and “bring justice to Daniela.”

“We are also calling on the Dallas County Commissioners Court to review Judge Hal Turley’s decision-making in the case,” organizers said in a statement announcing the rally. “It was negligent of Judge Hal Turley, and we demand the courts do better next time and hold Domingo Ramirez-Cayente accountable for his actions.

“Lastly,” the statement continued, “when found, we call on District Attorney John Creuzot to prosecute Domingo Ramirez-Cayente to the fullest extent of the law.”

Daniela Calderon-Ramirez is also speaking tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 20) at Transgender Day of Remembrance events at SMU (at 5 p.m.) and at the J Erik Jonsson Central Library in Dallas (at 7 p.m.).