Black women must be protected at all costs.
Oluwatoyin Salau, a 19-year-old protestor who was on the frontlines in the fight for justice, has died.
Her family and police confirmed her death Monday morning (June 15).
Salau was reported missing on June 6 and her body was found a week later, this past Saturday night (June 13). She was one of two homicide victims found in southeast Tallahassee, just a few miles from where she was last seen at a library.
Victoria “Vicki” Sims, 75, was also reported missing and was the second victim found dead. She was a grandmother and retired state worker well-known for her work in local Democratic politics.
The suspect has been identified by police as Aaron Glee, Jr, 49, who had previously been arrested twice for violent offenses.
Just hours before Salau went missing, she took to twitter to report she had been sexually assaulted and close friends report that this wasn’t the first time this happened.
Anyways I was molested in Tallahassee, Florida by a black man this morning at 5:30 on Richview and Park Ave. The man offered to give me a ride to find someplace to sleep and recollect my belongings from a church I refuged to a couple days back to escape unjust living conditions.
— Oluwatoyin (@virgingrltoyin) June 6, 2020
Salau was last seen Friday afternoon at a protest with her friend Danaya Hemphill.
“We were all together one minute and the next minute our friend was gone,” Hemphill continued, “I had a feeling that we were not going to find Toyin alive.”
Salau would recite the names of Black people killed, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and countless others, at each demonstration.
“I don’t want their names gone in vain,” she said at a protest in front of the Tallahassee police department last month.
“She was like a light in a dark room. That was Toyin.”
Oluwatoyin Salau deserved more. She deserved to be protected. Black women deserve to be seen. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her loved ones.
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