AUSTIN (KXAN) — A triple homicide, allegedly committed at random, rocked Austin Monday afternoon. The aftershocks of the tragedy continued for family and friends of the victims — a Target employee, a grandfather, and a four-year-old child died in a North Austin parking lot.
Austin Police released the names and photos of the deceased Tuesday. But those close to one of the victims told KXAN that APD got one of those names wrong.
Kim Dang, who was engaged to the Target employee, told KXAN Wednesday night that her fiancée had started to transition her gender in 2022. She said her fiancée had used a chosen name for several years: Rosa Machuca.
“She didn’t fully begin to come out until after she came out to me, some of her family members and friends, and then solely over time, she became confident in being called Rosa,” Dang said. “Early into 2023 … that’s when she started like, to able to dress more confidently as a trans woman, and started to want to be recognized in Target as a trans woman.”
KXAN also confirmed this Wednesday afternoon from a former co-worker of Machuca, Faith Garcia. She said that Machuca “had this smile” when she told Garcia about her new name.
“She was always so helpful and kind with everyone at work, even the guests,” Garcia said. “The very least we can do is call her by her name and make sure everyone else does, regardless of her legal name.”
According to Garcia, Machuca had been promoted to shift lead.
KXAN reached out to Target on Wednesday afternoon to seek additional confirmation and a statement about Machuca’s death. We have not heard back.
‘Sunshine of my life’
Dang said she and Machuca had been in an 11-year relationship since high school. They decided to get engaged last November after they saw “very cute” rings.
“We decided that we wanted to be engaged on the spot. In Rosa’s words, she always knew she wanted to be married to me ever since we started dating,” Dang said. “[I was] the one who wanted both our families to know about us getting married, so kind of like at least we would try to take baby steps in that process.”
According to Dang, Machuca came out to her while attending UT Austin. She aspired to be a journalist, Dang said, and had a high school internship with PBS in Washington, D.C.
“She really wanted to pursue that. But with her family’s struggles at the time, she had to kind of make a decision to help with her family instead,” Dang said.
“I feel like my greatest honor was to be loved by her because she was, she was literally like the sunshine of my life … she was able to bring positivity into my life that I never thought I knew.”
Kim Dang, Rosa Machuca’s fiancée
Machuca dropped out of UT Austin after a semester and began working at Target, which helped her feel comfortable in her transition, Dang explained.
“I guess it was kind of like a bittersweet way for her to start feeling comfortable with her being known as Rosa … she was just kind of like juggling the idea of it. But when she worked at Target … I think that’s when she slowly felt comfortable to be known as Rosa,” she said. “For me to see this person being so wonderful and being bright about everything she loves … I’m so honored to be her partner/fiancée, because I get to be that part of her life.”
According to Dang, Machuca’s family supported her transition. KXAN has offered to interview Machuca’s family when they are ready.
APD acknowledges Rosa’s name
In a social media post around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, they acknowledged that she was known as Rosa. The post also used her legal name, which is referred to by the transgender community as deadnaming.
“It has come to the attention of the Austin Police Department that … Machuca was known to many in their community as Rosa. In the interest of respecting all who knew and loved them, including their immediate family, we believe it is important to honor and acknowledge them as they lived their life,” APD said.
Dang said she “was very hurt” by seeing the use of Machuca’s deadname by APD, in the media and online fundraisers.
“I knew she never wanted to be recognized as her deadname. I never wanted them to be remembered as their deadname. I want them to be remembered for who they really, truly want to be,” she said.
After a person dies, official documents must use a person’s legal name. That identification goes to the media; without other sources telling reporters otherwise, newsrooms will follow an official source.
Dang noted that Machuca wanted to change her official documents, but had been afraid to do so because of the political climate around transition.
“With the world going on right now, it’s a bit of a scary place in Texas, so she was kind of scared to legally change her name at the time. So I think she was just kind of waiting for the right moment to get her driver’s license and then legally change her name to make it official,” Dang said.
However, since a 2024 change in Texas Department of Public Safety policy, Texans cannot use a court order to change their name and gender marker on state-issued identification. This was codified in 2025 by the Texas legislature, banning Machuca and other transgender Texans from making such changes.
In 2016, Austin City Council approved a resolution intended to overhaul how APD handles the identification of transgender victims. It limits the use of a victim’s name in some instances, but law enforcement is still required to use a victim’s legal name in court documents.