Mick Hartley

A man who beat his girlfriend to death has changed his name to Zera Lola Zombie, and wants to be transferred to a woman's prison. What could possibly go wrong?

A judge in Oregon has ordered prison officials to classify a violent trans-identified male inmate as “vulnerable” after he launched a lawsuit claiming he was being discriminated against. Zera Lola Zombie, born Daniel Lee Smith, complained that he was at risk from inmates convicted of crimes against women despite having murdered a woman himself.

In September of 2021, Zombie filed a lawsuit against the state of Oregon alleging discrimination on the basis of his gender identity. Amongst the grievances, Zombie claimed he had suffered “ongoing harassment” by staff and fellow inmates while initially incarcerated at male institutions….

Zombie argued that the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) had violated his rights by housing him in a men’s prison, and by placing him in a cell “with a known sexual predator” serving a sentence for “violence against women.” He also stated he was “deliberately and maliciously” misgendered by correctional officers during his time in a male prison.

Zombie’s lawyers filed a request for a jury trial on the matters outlined in the lawsuit, seeking an undisclosed sum to compensate him for his “pain and suffering … emotional distress … economic losses” and legal fees, as well as an award of “punitive damages.”

While Zombie was transferred to the Coffee Creek Women’s Correctional Facility in September of 2021, he was quickly moved back to the male estate. Reduxx reached out to the Oregon Department of Corrections for more information on the transfer, but Media Manager Amber Campbell said she was unsure of the reason behind it….

Zombie is serving a 35-year-sentence for charges including the brutal 2014 murder of Samantha Brown, who had been his girlfriend at the time. Brown’s corpse was found in the trailer Zombie was living in, the woman having been beaten and bludgeoned to death….

Zombie began identifying as transgender in 2020 and started a hormone regimen around that time. He has since changed his name and gender marker on legal documents. His attorneys in the lawsuit also insist he has developed “obvious breasts” due to his hormones, and have used the point as though to emphasize he is at heightened risk in a men’s prison.

It's surely only a matter of time before the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) take up Zombie's case. It's what they do now.