A Time for Change

For the first time in our country, CNN reports that there has been a conviction under s state hate crime law for the murder of a transgender teenager.  Allen Andrade met the teen on a social networking site on the interent.  Adrade’s defense was based on the heat of passion, claiming that once he found out that Justin “Angie” Zapata was a biological male, he lost control.

Andrade admitted killing Zapata, but his defense argued that he acted in the heat of passion after discovering that Zapata was biologically male. The defense asked for a lesser verdict, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter.

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According to prosecutors, Zapata, 18, and Andrade 32, met online in summer 2008 and arranged to meet. Zapata brought Andrade to her apartment in Greeley, Colorado, where they spent nearly three days together.

According to a police affidavit, Zapata was out of the apartment when Andrade noticed photographs that made him “question victim Zapata’s sex.”

Andrade confronted Zapata, who declared, “I am all woman.” Andrade then grabbed Zapata and discovered male genitalia.

According to court records, Andrade told police he began hitting Zapata with his fists, knocking her to the ground. He then grabbed a fire extinguisher and twice hit her in the head.

Andrade told police he thought he had “killed it,” referring to Zapata, and covered her with a blanket. Realizing what he had done, he then cleaned up the crime scene, the affidavit said.

Andrade told police he heard “gurgling” sounds coming from the victim and saw Zapata sitting up. He hit her again with the fire extinguisher, he said, according to the affidavit.

Andrade took Zapata’s car and fled. Police discovered the car two weeks later and arrested Andrade.

The jury heard jailhouse phone conversations, including Andrade telling a girlfriend “gay things must die.” He did not testify in his own defense.

Zapata was 16 when she adopted the name “Angie,” and made the decision to live as a woman. 

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Throughout the trial, prosecutors referred to Zapata as “she,” while the defense referred to the transgender teen as “he.”

“When [Andrade] met him, he met him as ‘Angie,’ ” defense attorney Annette Kundelius argued on Wednesday. “When he found out it wasn’t ‘Angie,’ that it was ‘Justin,’ he lost control.”

But the jury rejected the argument, deciding in favor of prosecutors, who argued that Andrade knew Zapata was biologically male and that knowledge motivated the crime.

“This was an ambush attack,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Robb Miller. “This was an all-out blitz.”

Zapata was “born in a boy’s body but living as a female,” added Miller. “Ultimately, she was murdered because of it.”

In the wake of this landmark decision, supporters of the transgender community “are calling for the inclusion of transgender people in hate crime statutes across the country and at the federal level. Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia recognize transgender people in their hate crime laws.”  These hate crimelaws are needed as are discrimination statutes because members of the transgender community are often treated as social outcasts.  A few years ago, there was an excellent documentaty on HBO that showed a man, who was a biological woman, suffering from ovarain cancer.  He could not find a gynecologist to treat him.  It was heartbreaking.

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