Who Was Girlalala? The Shooting, Boyfriend Charges, and Funeral Dispute

Girlalala was a 21-year-old Black transgender TikTok influencer and hairstylist from Pompano Beach, Florida, whose real name was Maurice Harrison. On November 14, 2025, she was shot and killed inside a car in Lauderdale Lakes during an argument with her boyfriend of about three years, 25-year-old Shanoyd Whyte Jr., who was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder with a firearm.¹²

Who She Was

Harrison built her online presence around wig styling and candid day-in-the-life videos, describing herself as a “wig influencer” while working professionally as a hairstylist in Pompano Beach. Her following grew to roughly 290,000 on TikTok and more than 43,000 on Instagram, making her one of the more visible transgender creators in South Florida.³ She was close with rapper JT, formerly of City Girls, through a fan community and had appeared in several of JT’s videos.⁴

What Happened the Night She Was Killed

Around 7 p.m. on Friday, November 14, 2025, Harrison and Whyte were inside Whyte’s sedan in Lauderdale Lakes when a verbal argument turned physical. Whyte told detectives the couple argued frequently and that the final dispute began when Harrison “pulled his hair,” after which he drew his firearm. He declined to describe the shooting itself.¹²

Surveillance footage from a nearby Tesla captured Whyte stepping out of the driver’s side holding what appeared to be a firearm. When Harrison tried to exit from the passenger side, he grabbed her by the hair and forced her back into the car.⁵¹⁶

Whyte called 911 after the shooting and flagged down arriving deputies. A firearm believed to be the weapon was recovered near the car, though Whyte refused to give investigators any information about the gun.⁷

The Boyfriend and the Charges

Shanoyd Whyte Jr., 25, grew up in Fort Lauderdale and had played college football as a defensive lineman at Bethune-Cookman University in 2019.⁸ He and Harrison had been in a relationship for about three years.²

He was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm in Broward County. A judge denied bond, and he is being held at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale.⁹⁵ A first-degree murder conviction in Florida carries a potential sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Warning Signs in the Relationship

After the shooting, fans resurfaced older videos from Girlalala’s accounts that suggested a pattern of conflict. One widely shared clip showed Harrison with visible injuries, including a cut on her nose and under her eye, telling the camera that she and Whyte “always fight.”¹ Whyte told detectives the couple argued frequently, including several times on the day of the shooting.²

JT was among the most prominent voices to respond. She criticized the way domestic violence stories circulate as entertainment, writing that “NOTHING is funny about a (domestic) violence story” and that “these kids or adults may never be protected in a time where everything is moving fast & used as content.”⁴

The Dispute Over Her Funeral

A GoFundMe launched to cover Harrison’s funeral raised nearly $30,000, with JT contributing $5,000.⁴¹⁰

The funeral itself became the site of a public dispute between Harrison’s parents. Her father objected to a feminine presentation, reportedly saying he would not attend if she were shown wearing a wig, and held a separate private service with a masculine appearance.¹¹ Her mother organized a public viewing on December 5, 2025, in Pompano Beach with a feminine presentation, including a pink Versace robe. The open casket, widely described online as a “glass casket,” drew intense attention and debate.¹²

The dispute pointed to a legal gap that reaches beyond this case. Without advance documents such as an appointment of agent to control disposition of remains, funeral decisions default to the deceased person’s legal next of kin. The Transgender Law Center recommends that transgender people execute directives specifying their preferred name, pronouns, and gender presentation, and designate a trusted person to carry out those wishes, since a legal name change alone does not guarantee they will be honored if next of kin objects.¹³

Where Her Killing Fits

According to data from the Human Rights Campaign and Advocates for Trans Equality, at least 399 transgender people have been killed by violence in the United States since 2013, and at least 27 were killed between November 2024 and November 2025. About 82 percent of victims have been trans women, roughly seven in ten have been Black, and firearms were involved in more than 71 percent of the deaths. Florida ranks second nationally in the frequency of these killings, behind only Texas.¹⁴

Florida’s hate crime statute covers sexual orientation but does not extend to gender identity, so hate crime enhancements are not available under state law even in cases with evidence of anti-transgender animus.¹⁵ Whyte’s case remains pending in Broward County.

1
NBC Miami. TikTok Influencer Girlalala Arrest Document Details
2
NBC News. Transgender TikTok Influencer Shot Killed Florida
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AOL. Girlalala Know TikTok Star
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USA Today. JT Girlalala GoFundMe TikTok Murder
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Local 10 News. Crucial Video Evidence Helped Cops Arrest Influencer Girlalala’s Accused Killer
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Newsweek. Girlalala Death TikTok Star
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The Independent. Girlalala TikToker Dead Shanoyd Whyte
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Oxygen. Maurice Harrison Dead After Argument With Shanoyd Whyte Jr
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Miami Herald. Girlalala Shooting Broward County
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Hot 97. JT Donates to Funeral Cost of Slain TikTok Star Girlalala
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Times of India. Girlalala Father’s Video Stirs Huge Reaction
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EURweb. Girlalala Funeral
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Transgender Law Center. Life Planning Documents for Transgender Communities
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Washington Blade. 27 Trans People Murdered Over Last Year
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MAP Research. Hate Crime Laws