Trans Woman Kimberly Susan Fial, 55, Murdered in a Mass Stabbing in San Jose
By: Sue Kerr
Tags: LGBTQ, Gender, Homeless, Transgender, Murder

Trans Woman Kimberly Susan Fial, 55, Murdered in a Mass Stabbing in San Jose

Kimberly Susan Fial photo from Facebook

On November 22, 2020, a horrific crime took the life of 55-year-old white trans woman, Kimberly Susan Fial. She was volunteering at a local homeless shelter in Grace Baptist Church in San Jose, California when she and four other staff/volunteers were stabbed by a resident of the shelter. Kim and one other person died from their injuries, the other three victims survived.

The man who killed them was Fernando Jesus Lopez, 32, who is now in jail waiting trial. His weapon was a kitchen butcher knife. Lopez’ immigration status is being used as weapon to tighten immigration rules in sanctuary cities like San Jose, a turn of events that the pastor of Grace Baptist Church finds actually dishonors the memories of the departed.

Once upon a time, Kimberly Fial was a homeless person who stayed at Grace Baptist’s shelter. According to Planet Transgender:

Ms. Fial arrived at Grace Baptist Church as a shelter guest in the middle of the year, and almost as soon as she got there, she started pitching in to help staff however she could, said shelter manager Anthony Mastrocola. That included helping make and serve dinner, passing out coffee in the morning, and running the shelter’s shower arrangements.

So she did everything right from the perspective of the right. She sought out help when she needed it, she was a model resident who volunteered. Then when she founded permanent housing, she continued to volunteer. She was working side by side with Lopez just moments before he murdered her.

But she wasn’t safe in that space.

According to The Mercury News and Planet Transgender, Fial volunteered at the homeless shelter at Grace Baptist Church where she was killed. Those who knew her said she was a “proud trans woman.” She “loved bright colors” and had the “ability to draw a laugh out of people around her.” Fial is remembered by friends and loved ones as “a kind and loving person” and someone with “a twinkle in her eye.” Said shelter manager Anthony Mastrocola, “My heart always felt warm when I saw her when I got into the building.” A vigil was held to remember Fial and all the victims of the stabbing last week.

Kimberly was born and raised in Greene, New York. She is missed by her friends and loved ones. For a more detail account of events, please visit Planet Transgender’s coverage of the story. The shelter volunteers recently held a memorial event and reasserted their commitment to continue serving. I do not know of plans for final arrangements.

Kimberly’s story is why the myth of a “model client” makes me grind my teeth. Being kind, helpful, and empathetic did not protect Kimberly, Appropriate funding levels for homeless services and housing supports would have protected her. More staff with more resources and more options would have protected her. While we cannot and need not say that she was targeted for being trans, we can look at the data on homelessness and see that her trans identity was a significant risk factor for housing insecurity.

And as I write this in late December with a surging pandemic amidst looming cutbacks of supports in housing, rent, utilities, etc — I cannot fathom what our trans siblings and neighbors will face in 2021.

Rest in power, Kimberly. You and I shared the name — Susan — so I will always think of you when I use that name. Thank you for the many kindnesses and services you offered your colleagues and clients alike. You deserved the companionship you asked for and I am so sorry that didn’t happen in this lifetime.

My list of transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary neighbors who have lost their lives to violent deaths in the US during 2020.

We are also monitoring these suspicious deaths

Fendi Mon’ezah Armstrong — Lithonia, Georgia, November 11, 2020. Age 39