#sayhername: shelly frey

As part of our recent release of the IHLR #LikeAGirl Issue, we're mounting several blog posts in honor of the #SayHerName movement, which "sheds light on Black women's experiences of police violence in an effort to support a gender-inclusive approach to racial justice." While much media coverage of the #BlackLivesMatter movement focuses on police brutality against young black men, the #SayHerName movement is giving voice to the vulnerability of black women and girls to state violence. This is our first post. Follow our others under the tag #LikeAGirl.

On December 6, 2012, Shelly Frey was shot and killed by Louis Campbell, an off-duty sheriff and Houston area minister. He did so in an attempt to apprehend her friend, whom he suspected was shoplifting in a Walmart. As the couple got into their car and attempted to drive away, Campbell fired shots into the car, hitting Frey twice in the neck. Later, he claimed he fired in self-defense when the driver, Frey's friend, allegedly attempted to run him over. After Frey was shot, neither the driver nor the police sought medical attention for her. Her body was left in the car for eight hours.