Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray
American drag performer and activist
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Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray (1983/1984 – March 13, 2026) was an American drag performer and activist who was murdered in 2026.
Mable
Drag performer
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983/1984 |
| Died | (aged 42) |
| Other names | Saamel Mable |
| Occupations | Activist Drag performer |
Career
Sanchez-McCray worked as a club promoter and drag queen, competing in drag pageants around the United States.[1] He won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015.[1] In 2017, he was the second alternate to Miss North Carolina Mardis Gras.[2] He was active in Virginia and in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was involved in the Charlotte Black Pride pageant circuit and won the Miss Charlotte FFI-at-Large pageant in 2020.[1]
He worked with the Nationz Pageantry system and also ran a catering company.[3]
In 2023, Sanchez-McCray boycotted Bar at 316, an LGBTQ+ sports bar in Charlotte that was reportedly mistreating Black patrons.[1][4]
Murder
On March 13, 2026, Sanchez-McCray was shot and killed in Petersburg, Virginia.[1] He was forty-two years old at the time of his murder.[1] Police officers responded to the shooting and found his body, with multiple gunshot wounds, inside a house with an unsecured door.[1] He was pronounced dead at the scene and was misgendered as a trans woman in initial news reports.[1] His family later stated he identified as a gay man.[5]
His funeral was scheduled to take place on March 27, 2026, at Johnson Celebration of Life Center in Petersburg, Virginia.[1]