Boston police detectives are renewing their call for leads in the unsolved homicide of a transgender woman who was stabbed to death in her Brighton apartment 25 years ago and whose murder inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance, held globally every year on Nov. 20.
The remembrance event started in Boston in 1999, one year after Rita Hester’s murder, spread to San Francisco, and is now observed around the world.
Detectives assigned to the Unsolved Homicide Unit “are actively reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding this murder” and are seeking the public’s assistance with any information connected to it, Boston police announced in a statement Tuesday.
“Rita’s murder shook the LGBTQ+ community and the Brighton neighborhood she resided in,” the statement said. “Rita’s legacy has forged several initiatives including the Transgender Day of Remembrance that is celebrated on November 20th every year.”
Hester was killed two days after Thanksgiving on Nov. 28, 1998, stabbed 20 times in her apartment at 21 Park Vale Ave. It was two days before her 35th birthday.
There was no sign of forced entry and police at the time said they believed “the killer might have known the victim.”
Hester had last been seen leaving the Silhouette Lounge on Brighton Avenue at about 5 p.m., police said.
At least one neighbor told investigators she heard pounding noises around the time of the killing but ignored the sounds, the Globe reported at the time.
“I heard a lot of bangs, but I just thought it was someone pounding on a door,” said the neighbor. “We didn’t hear any yelling or screams. We didn’t really pay any attention to it.”
Born William Hester and raised in Hartford, Conn., Rita Hester was — by all accounts — glamorous, brilliant, and driven.
She was a nightclub singer who wore her hair in long luxurious braids and had a love for cheetah print and exotic pets. She liked to entertain, travel, and listen to her music loud.
A mural depicting Hester at 506 Cambridge St. in Allston was unveiled in July 2022.
At the unveiling, Rosie C. Hanlon, a lifelong resident of Allston-Brighton, said she remembered Hester’s life and death.
“She knew who she was and what she wanted, and she wasn’t afraid to make that statement,” Hanlon told the Harvard Crimson. “I think that she was a pioneer to having people accept who we are and why we are without judgment, and that’s pretty amazing.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the city commissioned the mural to acknowledge Hester’s contributions and honor her as part of the city’s Transformative Public Art Program.
Investigators urge anyone with information about Hester’s case to contact the Boston Police Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can be submitted to CrimeStoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.