In the late summer of 2002, Deasha Andrews was a 28-year-old transgender woman navigating life in Jacksonville, Florida. The city's LGBTQ+ community was still carving out its spaces, and for transgender residents, visibility often came with vulnerability. Less than a year earlier, the community had been shaken by the murder of another transgender woman, Terrianne Summers, a vocal activist who was killed in her own front yard. Against this backdrop of grief and unease, Deasha’s life was abruptly and violently ended, leaving behind a case that has remained cold for over two decades.
On the morning of Thursday, August 8, 2002, a man walking his dog made a devastating discovery. Along Spring Grove Road on the city's Northside, he found Deasha Andrews inside her car. She was slumped over, having been shot multiple times. Investigators from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) responded to the scene, and it was immediately clear that Deasha had been killed in a homicide.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, her life cut short in what was described as a very violent part of town.
The investigation was launched by the JSO, who, in the initial days, stated that they were not investigating the murder as a hate crime. According to Rusty Mead, who served as the GLBT Community Liaison for the sheriff's office at the time, investigators had information suggesting the motive lay elsewhere, though specifics were not publicly revealed. Police noted that Deasha was known to frequent the area where her body was found. They also quickly announced that they did not believe her murder was connected to the December 2001 killing of Terrianne Summers, stating that the only similarities were that both victims were transgender and had been shot. It was noted, however, that the lead detective assigned to Deasha's case was the partner of the detective leading the investigation into Terrianne's murder.
In the years that followed, public information about the investigation into Deasha Andrews' homicide dwindled and then disappeared entirely. There has been no announcement of any suspects, persons of interest, or arrests in her case. The trail of evidence, at least in the public sphere, went cold almost as soon as the investigation began. Her murder became one of a number of unsolved cases involving transgender women in the Southeast, a painful reminder of the dangers the community faced.
Deasha’s case, along with that of Terrianne Summers, was the subject of a 2020 episode of the true-crime podcast "The Fall Line," which investigates under-reported and unsolved cases. The episode brought renewed attention to the two unsolved Jacksonville murders, exploring the circumstances of their deaths and the lingering questions that haunt their community. For many, the lack of resolution in Deasha's case is a source of continued pain and frustration.
As of 2024, the murder of Deasha Andrews remains an unsolved cold case with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. More than twenty years have passed, and still, no one has been held accountable for her death. The questions of who killed her and why remain unanswered, leaving a void for those who may have known and cared for her. There is no information publicly available about any reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information about the homicide of Deasha Andrews is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at (904) 630-0500 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
