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Police mugshot of Dana Rivers by Alameda County Sheriff, California, 11 November 2016.

Dana Rivers (born 1954 or 1955)[1] is an American transgender advocate and convicted murderer.

In 1999, Rivers was fired from her job as a teacher at Center High School in Antelope, California, after she revealed to the school that she soon intended to live her life as a woman.[2] Her subsequent suit brought national attention to the case.

In 2022, Rivers was convicted of the 2016 murders of Charlotte Reed, 56, and her wife Patricia Wright, 57, and their son Benny Diambu-Wright, 19.

Early life and career

Rivers grew up in the San Francisco area. She served three years in the US Navy before pursuing a career in education.[3]

Rivers was a labor leader in Orange County for the American Federation of Teachers, and in the 1980s was twice elected to the board of the Huntington Beach Union High School District.[4] She was also a baseball coach and a white-water rafting instructor.[2]

Rivers had problems with alcoholism and three failed marriages. She was diagnosed with gender dysphoria after moving to Antelope and becoming a teacher in 1990.[5][4]

Discrimination case

Rivers gained global attention in 1999 when she was fired as a teacher because she came out as a transgender woman to her students at Center High School.[3] Before coming out, she had been recognized as an outstanding teacher by the school.[3] When she started to discuss her transition, she was warned not to discuss such matters at the school, and ultimately the board voted 3–2 to fire her.[3] Rivers sued Center Unified School District for the dismissal; the case was eventually settled out of court, with Rivers agreeing to resign and receiving a $150,000 settlement.[3][6][7] She subsequently moved to the Bay Area to resume her teaching career.[6]

Activism

After settling her case, Rivers travelled the country to speak to groups about her experience.[8] In 2004, Rivers appeared on the news magazine program 20/20. She discussed her discrimination case, as well as the gender confirming surgeries she received in 2000.[9]

Murders and trial

On November 11, 2016, married couple Patricia Wright and Charlotte Reed and their nineteen-year-old son, Benny Toto Diambu-Wright, were killed at their house in Oakland, California.[3] Wright and Reed were both stabbed and "riddled with bullets" in their bed, though Reed was stabbed dozens more times than Wright, to the point of being "unrecognizable".[3][6] Diambu was shot and was found lying in the street after leaving the house.[3][10] When police arrived at the scene following 911 calls, they found Rivers running from the house, which was on fire, while covered in blood. She was in possession of knives, ammunition, and metal knuckles; when arrested, she "began to make spontaneous statements about her involvement in the murders", according to police.[3][11]

Rivers was formally charged with three counts of murder, arson, and possession of metal knuckles on November 14, 2016.[3] In 2017, she pleaded not guilty to the charges;[1] in 2018 she was ordered to stand trial on the murder charges.[12] After years of delay, Rivers' jury trial on charges of murder began in late October 2022.[13] The prosecution alleged that, motivated by Reed's exit from the women's motorcycle club they had both been members of, Rivers had gained Reed's trust in order to be allowed to spend the night in her and Wright's home. Rivers then shot the couple to death in their sleep, stabbing the corpses afterwards; she set fire to the garage in an attempt to remove evidence of the crime.[6][14] On November 16, 2022, a jury found Rivers guilty on all charges.[5][6] In January 2023, a judge ruled that she had been legally sane at the time of the murders.[10] The same judge later sentenced Rivers to life in prison without the possibility of parole, calling it "the most depraved crime I ever handled in the criminal justice system in 33 years."[15]

References

  1. ^ a b "Woman Pleads Not Guilty To 3 Counts Of Murder". SF Gate. Bay City News Service. July 5, 2017. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Nieves, Evelyn (September 27, 1999). "After Sex Change, Teacher Is Barred From School". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Andrews, Travis M. (November 18, 2016). "She gained fame as an early transgender advocate. Now, she's charged with triple homicide". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on September 3, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Bailey, Eric (October 11, 1999). "Teacher's Firing Over Gender Change Stirs Controversy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Goldberg, Noah (November 17, 2022). "Transgender activist and former teacher found guilty of triple murder". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e Gartrell, Nate (November 17, 2022). "Dana Rivers guilty: Oakland jury takes less than a day to return triple-murder verdict". Mercury News. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  7. ^ McNamara, Mary (February 27, 2001). "Era of the Gender Crosser; Buoyed by the success of gay liberation and freed by medical advances, the transgender community has found a voice. Still, life often remains complicated". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Transsexuals Enter Civil-Rights Fray". The Salt Lake Tribune. July 21, 2000. pp. A11. ISSN 0746-3502.ProQuest 281134309
  9. ^ "Sex Change Operation Ignites Controversy". ABC News. September 30, 2004. Archived from the original on January 29, 2011.
  10. ^ a b Gartrell, Nate (January 11, 2023) [January 10, 2023]. "San Jose transgender rights activist was sane when she murdered Oakland family, judge rules". Mercury News.
  11. ^ Lindelof, Bill (November 16, 2016). "Former Sacramento teacher, once disciplined over gender change, arrested in triple homicide". The Sacramento Bee.
  12. ^ "Transgender Activist Ordered To Stand Trial For Oakland Triple Murder". CBS San Francisco. March 7, 2018. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  13. ^ Helling, Steve (October 12, 2022). "Ex-Teacher Faces Murder Trial After Family of 3 — Including Teen Son — Are Shot, Stabbed in Calif. Home". People. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  14. ^ "Deviants motor club member convicted of 2016 triple murder in Oakland". KRON4. January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  15. ^ Gartrell, Nate (June 14, 2023). "'The most depraved crime I ever handled': Transgender activist gets life in prison for murdering Oakland family". The Mercury News. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
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