New England Development, the company hoping to redevelop an Allston Stop & Shop store and its parking lot into the 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use Allston Yards development is coming under pressure to name a public park included in the multi-block project after a transgender woman whose murder is commemorated worldwide every year.

According to WGBH, a local LGBT activist has launched a petition to name the half-block-sized “community green” after Allston resident Rita Hester, who was stabbed to death in 1998. No one was ever charged in her murder.

Memorials for Hester’s killing formed the basis for the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a yearly worldwide event held to honor the victims of violence against transgender people everywhere. Despite the progress made since Hester’s killing, transgender Americans – particularly transgender Americans of color – are still at greater risk of becoming the victims of violence than the average American.

All comments on the Allston Yard project are due to the Boston Planning & Develolpment Agency by Dec. 9.