Monica Forrester remembers her friend, Chevranna Abdi, as someone well known to step up to help other trans women, and who was outgoing and fun to be around.

Abdi died after Hamilton police were called to a Sandford Avenue apartment building with reports of a woman “wielding a knife and acting in a bizarre fashion.” The coroner’s inquest said she died from “gastric aspiration from cocaine poisoning” after being carried down several flights of stairs by officers, and did not make any recommendations to police.

However, a Hamilton Spectator article from the inquest quotes witnesses who testified that fatigued officers dragged Abdi partway down the stairs, letting go of her legs while still supporting her upper body, face down. They also said a fellow resident had already seized the knife from her before police arrived.