I just saw on the Questioning Transphobia website that the Angie Zapata murder trial has already produced a verdict. For details on Angie's case, visit the LGBT Hate Crimes clearinghouse here. Angie Zapata (shown in the picture above) was an 18 year old trans woman who was found brutally murdered in her own apartment in Greeley, Colorado sometime in July last year. The suspect in her killing, Allen Ray Andrade, 31, was put on trial recently and his jury found him guilty on four counts: first degree murder, bias motivated crime, aggravated motor vehicle theft, and ID theft. Andrade gets mandatory life without parole for the first count. Sentencing on the other counts will happen on May 8.
Angie was one of the people honored in last year's Transgender Day of Remembrance. LGBT activists in the US have been anticipating the outcome of her murderer's trial because a hate-crime law was being used to prosecute him. The verdict above makes it clear that the jury accepts Angie's murder as a hate crime.
Angie's death is a great loss. It is said that she dreamed of becoming a professional entertainer and a cosmetologist. I cringe every time I read the gruesome details of her death. They are just too violent, too painful. I condole with the family she leaves behind and pray that they will be able to surmount this terrible blow that life has dealt them. I will also say a prayer for Angie, for the eternal repose of her soul.
1 comment:
How was India PTG?
While the Zapata family surprisingly got justice in conservative Weld County CO, the sad reality is that Andrade being carted off to jail for the rest of his life doesn't bring Angie back.
But if results in increased more understanding about transgender people and the federal hate crimes bill that's been languishing in Congress to finally get passed, then Angie's death will not have been in vain.
We're working hard in the States to make sure it isn't.
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