Drag Ball: The Death of Venus Extravaganza

Venus Extravaganza was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to Italian American and Puerto Rican parents. Venus identifies as a trans woman and finds community in Harlem's drag scene. The budding drag star's career tragically ends on Christmas Day in 1988 when a stranger finds her body stuffed under a bed in the Duchess Hotel. She had been strangled to death and left in the hotel room for four days and she was only 23 years old.