REMEMBER Rhiannon
Rhiannon Winter Layendecker
51 YEARS OLD ·
Englewood,
Florida
Rhiannon Winter Layendecker was remembered by friends and neighbors as loving, kind, gentle, compassionate, and someone who would help anyone in need. She had a particular love for animals and frequently shared photographs of rescue dogs and cats. Her death deeply affected her large family, who later gathered for a memorial celebrating her life and sharing their memories of her.
Rhiannon was born on May 15, 1966, and lived in Englewood, Florida. Friends and neighbors remembered her as a kind, sweet, and gentle person who was willing to help others. She was especially passionate about animals and regularly shared photographs of rescue dogs and cats. Her niece described Rhiannon's large family as being in shock and disbelief following her death. In June 2018, family members gathered for a memorial celebrating Rhiannon's life and sharing memories of her.
THE RECORD
On December 16, 2017, Rhiannon was fatally shot by her wife, Jessica Winkler, during an argument at their Englewood home. After the shooting, Winkler placed Rhiannon's body, wrapped in a blanket, in the bed of Rhiannon's truck and attempted to dispose of evidence. Investigators recovered evidence from a nearby body of water and identified a property in Charlotte County where Winkler had begun preparations to bury Rhiannon. Winkler later called 911 and reported that she had killed her wife.
RELATIONSHIP CONTEXT
Wife
Rhiannon and Jessica Winkler were married and shared a home on Overbrook Road in Englewood. Law enforcement reported that the fatal shooting occurred during an argument between the couple. The available sources do not establish a documented history of IPV before the fatal incident.
LEGAL / SYSTEM RESPONSE
Jessica Winkler was arrested and initially charged with murder and tampering with evidence. In March 2019, Winkler pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. She received a 25-year prison sentence
INFORMATION LIMITATIONS
Available sources provide substantial information about Rhiannon's death, remembrance, and criminal case, but limited information about the history of her marriage before the homicide. No pre-homicide IPV indicators were established from the sources reviewed.
TRANSPARENCY / RECORD NOTE
Rhiannon was a transgender woman whose death has been documented by transgender advocacy and human-rights organizations as part of broader efforts to document fatal violence against transgender people. Human Rights Watch specifically includes Rhiannon among transgender people killed in Florida between 2016 and 2021 and identifies her death as an intimate-partner killing. The available sources do not establish that Rhiannon was killed because of her gender identity.
REMEMBER Rhiannon.
Every statistic had a name. Every name had a life.
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