| Location | Memphis |
| Age | 20 years |
| Cause of Death | Murder |
| Date of Birth | 01/07/1988 |
| Date of Death | 01/07/2008 |
| Visitors | 847 since 24/10/2009 |
| Creator |
Porshia and her mom did not know until after Ebony was found shot to death behind a Southeast
Memphis daycare on Tuesday, July 1, 2008, in a parking lot littered with used condoms, that she'd
been turning tricks for money since she was 16. They also didn't know she was transgender.
Ebony's mug-shot, taken during a previous arrest for prostitution, shows a beautiful young
African-American woman, with reddish streaks in her long blonde hair, arched brows, perfectly
applied eyeshadow and lip liner and a gold necklace with tiny butterflies on it.
"When I was 16," says Porshia, "at that age the biggest thing on my mind was what am I gonna wear to
school tomorrow, not where am I getting my next meal. It wasn't who am I gonna sleep with or what am
I gonna have to wear to sleep with this person. That's just sad."
"Maybe if he had more moral support from his family," says Claudia, "and a place to live and clothes
and all that, a lot of the choices he made he might not have made. I would like to tell the person
that did this crime, you will not get away with it. Justice will be served."
Late Friday, July 4, 2008, Memphis Police said no one was in custody for Whitaker's murder.
Investigators have not released a possible motive in the killing.
Claudia thinks one of Ebony's clients got upset when they realized she was transgender.
"I'm thinking he ran across a man," she says, "who wanted female company. And he thought he had a
beautiful young lady. And in the midst of the moment, he found out Rodney wasn't a woman and got mad
and shot him."
We Give Them Back We give them back to you, O Lord,
who first gave them to us; yet as
you did not lose them in the giving,
so we do not lose them by their
return . . .
For what is yours is ours also,
if we belong to you.
Love is unending, and the bound-
ary of this mortal life is but a
horizon, and a horizon is nothing
save the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, strong Son of God,
that we may see more clearly . . .
And while you prepare a place
for us, prepare us also for that
happy place, that we may be with
you and with those we loved for
evermore.
If I should go tomorrow
It would never be goodbye,
For I have left my heart with you,
So don't you ever cry.
The love that's deep within me,
Shall reach you from the stars,
You'll feel it from the heavens,
And it will heal the scars.
ETERNAL GOD
Eternal God, who sends consolation to all sorrowing hearts,
we turn to You for solace in this, our trying hour.
Though bowed in grief as our loved one departs from our midst to enter into peace of life eternal,
we reaffirm our faith in Your compassion and Your ever-present love.
May we bear our sorrow with trustful hearts,
and knowing You are near, may we not despair.
Into Your hands we commend the spirit of our beloved.
Body and soul are Yours, O God,
and in Your presence we cast off fear and are at peace.
"There is no death, what we call death.
Is but surcease from strife;
They do not die who we call dead,
They go from life ... to Life."
Changes
May the changes that come about in the future be seen here in this story of a person struggling to be at peace and others tying to stop them. She was being who she wanted to be. May all the hate and anger that is shown in the world fall to the wayside and may we never have to read about such sad stories in the ages to come. Love should hold us all together.
May the love you had spread out into the world and may each and every smile you see be a reminder of your beautiful loved one not lost to the world but in peace with the world.
I'm Free
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free. I'm following the path God laid for me.
I took his hand when I heard him call. I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day to laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way, I found that place at the close of the day.
If my parting has left a void, then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss, ah yes, these things, I too, will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow, I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much, good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all to brief; don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your heart and share with me, God wanted me now, He set me free.
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