Memphis, TN - To say that 43 year-old Duanna Johnson leads a difficult life would be an understatement. At her small, rundown, North Memphis house you'll find condom wrappers on the ground outside her door.
Her power meter is missing. Not that it matters because her electricity was turned off months ago after she stopped paying her utility bill.
She has one extension cord running from her bedroom window to the neighbor's house. They charge her $20 a month to plug into their electricity. It powers the single fan Duanna uses to cool her house.
And because Johnson has no running water in her home, neighbors often let her use their bathrooms to wash up and take care of her personal hygiene.
"Well, she would come over and talk," says 82 year-old Hattie Mae Benson. "And I mean, it was a good while before I knew what was happening."
Benson has been Johnson's guardian angel for the past three or four months, providing Memphis' most famous transgender woman with food, a clean bed to sleep in and a bathroom.
"I hate to see somebody needing something or wanting something," says Benson, "and they can't get it. Because sometimes I can't get it myself."
Hattie didn't know Johnson was a transgender woman until her videotaped beating at the hands of two Memphis cops became public last month.
Both cops were fired. Johnson's attorney is seeking a $1.3 million settlement with the city.
Over the weekend, Johnson was arrested again by Memphis Police during a sting near Hollywood and Staten in North Memphis.
According to the arrest affidavit, an undercover cop says Johnson flagged him down, got into his car and offered to perform "oral and natural sex" for $30 and a beer. The officer says Johnson was wearing a long wig, a short blue jean skirt and a green shirt. The affidavit goes on to say Johnson had a condom and a crack pipe in her purse.
After learning of Johnson's arrest on drug and prostitution charges, Hattie's husband, Frank, says Duanna has worn out her welcome.
"Because she usually comes over here when my wife is here by herself," he says. "She'll eat, sleep and take a bath and all that kind of stuff. And I want that stuff cut out. I told her don't let her in here no more."
Other neighbors, including Rosalyn Anderson, still watch out for Duanna.
"I let her borrow money," says Anderson, "to buy something to eat and buy make-up."
But in a neighborhood where houses are burned up and boarded up, folks around here don't have a lot of money to spare.
And those who care about Duanna say it's time for her to fight her demons.
"I will tell her that she should clean up her life," says Hattie Mae Benson.
"It's difficult for her right now," says Anderson. "She does what she can to survive out here. And it's hard out here for her. But this is the life she chooses, you know."
Johnson appeared in Shelby County Court on Monday, July 28th for her arraignment on the drug and prostitution charges. She's scheduled to be back in court next month.
Her court costs are at least $1000. Neighbors say she has to pay MLGW at least $2400 to get her utilities turned back on.
Johnson had no comment for reporters.
