A 21-year-old trans man who was eight months pregnant was killed by his fiancé, who then fatally shot himself in what authorities in Florida are investigating as a murder-suicide.
While the Polk County Sheriff’s Office misgendered the victim in an initial press release, social media profiles show Camdyn Rider used he/they pronouns.
According to authorities, Riley John Groover, 26, shot Rider multiple times around 7 p.m. on Friday, outside their home in Winter Haven in front of witnesses.
“According to family members, the couple have argued in the past, and it has turned physical. None of those incidents were reported to law enforcement,” the sheriff’s office said.
Facebook posts show Rider proposed to Groover in April 2022 and multiple posts express his love for his fiancé.
“From the second I laid eyes on you I knew that I wanted you in my life. I didn’t know as what yet, but I knew I wanted you there,” Rider wrote in one. “You showed me who I can be and you showed me what love is supposed to feel like.”
Rider also posted an image of an ultrasound in March, announcing he was pregnant with their child. In June, he shared photos of a gender reveal and that they planned to name their baby boy Oliver John Lee.
“It’s crazy to imagine that I’m now gonna be a father, especially to a little boy,” Rider wrote. “But man I’m so excited and couldn’t be happier, I couldn’t be happier to be doing it with you Riley Groover.”
On Friday, authorities said Groover became “enraged” and family members were unable to get Rider away from him.
“Despite all efforts from first responders at the scene and medical staff at the hospital, the unborn baby was unable to be saved,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to police records obtained by HuffPost, Groover was arrested multiple times over the last several years, including for an incident of domestic violence involving a female family member.
In 2014, Groover was accused of repeatedly stalking and harassing a victim over the phone, then shooting them with a BB gun. When Groover was arrested, he allegedly kicked a police officer while they were reaching for their handcuffs.
Groover was again arrested in 2016 on domestic violence charges after he got into a verbal argument with a female family member, which led to him breaking a bottle on the kitchen floor and continued to break several doors inside the home with a hatchet, authorities said.
In 2018, Groover allegedly became “angry and aggressive” during an altercation with a female family member following an argument over household chores and the Wi-Fi being shut off. Shortly after, he drove his car through the front yard, stopping just feet from the victim, then got out and chased her inside the house, where he stabbed her with a pocket knife, authorities said.
More than half of transgender individuals have experienced intimate partner violence, according to a national survey. Abuse can intensify when someone is pregnant, and homicide is a leading cause of death among pregnant people.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.