CeCe McDonald

Background McDonald was born in South Chicago on 26 May 1989. McDonald testified that she and her friends tried to walk away, but Flaherty started a fight, smashing an alcoholic glass in her face, causing a cut that required 11 stitches, and reportedly shouting "I can take on all of you bitches". piercing his heart in the right ventricle. "You stabbed me," he said. "Yes, I did," McDonald replied. Schmitz died during the ambulance ride.

The fighting stopped when those present saw Schmitz bleeding. McDonald and Thomas ran towards Cub Foods, while some of their friends boarded a Metro Transit bus. was arrested, and confessed to the stabbing, though subsequently claimed she had only confessed to cover for a different friend who had actually done it."

The office of Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman reviewed the evidence, including her taped confession, and charged McDonald with two counts of second-degree murder. and that the defense's toxicology expert could testify to the effects of methamphetamine and benzoylecgonine in general but not their effects on Schmitz on the night in question. Moreno also prevented an activist from testifying about the prevalence of violence against black trans women, and how it might have made McDonald fear for her life. Moreno permitted the prosecution's admittance of McDonald's prior statements on blogs and Facebook, and a motion to impeach McDonald's testimony, due to her previous conviction for writing a bad check. In a letter from Hennepin County jail, McDonald wrote that "none of this mess wouldn't be happening if it weren't for the victim and his group being rude and disrespectful to people they never knew." Supporters held dance parties and rallies outside the Hennepin County jail in McDonald's honor

Plea bargain (May 2012) Days before the trial was to begin, Moreno offered a plea bargain: charges of second-degree murder would be reduced to second-degree manslaughter, and McDonald would have to admit only to criminal negligence rather than murder.

Imprisonment While awaiting trial, McDonald had been held in segregated custody and spent time under house arrest. In May 2012, Michael Friedman of the Legal Rights Center, and Katie Burgess, both acknowledged that said there was "no way" McDonald would be "sent to a women's prison" and the state would make its own determination of McDonald's gender. The state's gender assessment concluded that McDonald would be held in a men's facility. During her imprisonment a petition caused the Department of Corrections to administer the correct regimen of hormones. Despite being transferred to a second facility, McDonald remained quartered with men throughout her imprisonment.

Flaherty assault case In May 2012, Molly Flaherty was charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm for attacking McDonald with "an alcoholic drink" glass that caused a wound requiring eleven stitches. Her case was referred to the Washington County Attorney's Office in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

Post-incarceration Chase Strangio, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, described McDonald's release a day to celebrate. McDonald was described as in good spirits but not ready to comment publicly,

McDonald with activist Joshua Allen on their Black Excellence Tour. In 2014, McDonald was profiled by Rolling Stone, included as part of the Advocate's annual "40 Under 40" list, In winter 2021, McDonald alongside community organizer Elle Hearns took part in a virtual discussion entitled "Black Trans Lives Matter" presented by the University of California, Santa Barbara Multicultural Center.