A judge today refused to lower a first-degree murder charge against a 31-year-old man accused of beating to death a transgender woman he had oral sex with the night before her death.
Weld District Judge Marcelo Kopcow cited evidence that Allen Andrade hit 18-year-old Angie Zapata several times with a fire extinguisher in her Greeley apartment in July after he confronted her about her sexual orientation.
...Andrade's lawyer, Annette Kundelius, argued that the murder charge should be reduced to second-degree murder because there was no deliberation in Andrade's acts.
When Andrade confronted Zapata about her sexual leanings, Zapata told him she was "all woman" and smiled at him, Kundelius said. "This was a highly provoking act and would cause someone to have an aggressive action," Kundelius said. "At best this is a case of passion."
Judge Kopcow didn't accept that argument -- he stated from the bench that Andrade could have left the apartment rather than attacking Zapata, and that "There was a period of time when reason and humanity could have been heard." Andrade is going to be tried for first degree murder.
The Greeley Tribune added even more to the story of the court arraignment in their article Man accused of killing transgendered woman appears in court:
A man accused of beating a transgendered woman to death told his girlfriend in a phone call that he "snapped" and that "gay things need to die."
The phone calls made by Allen Andrade, charged in the murder of the transgender woman Angie Zapata, while in jail to his girlfriend detailed that something bad had happened and that Andrade had made a mistake.
...The phone calls were also laden with derogatory remarks towards homosexuals, and he stated that people in jail are scared of him because of his reputation for wielding a fire extinguisher, which is the suspected murder weapon.
When Andrade's girlfriend said her cell phone was dying during a call, he said that was gay and that gay things need to die.
It's really hard for me not to absolutely loathe this alleged murderer, Allen Ray Andrade. His admissions to the police and his girlfriend are just beyond incredible.
I know I'm going to hear from some trans (and non-trans) folk who believe Angie Zapata should have disclosed her natal sex before getting intimate with a man, and that she holds blame for her own death. I don't buy it. From Andrade's comments about how "gay things need to die", he may have killed her anyway if she'd disclosed to him earlier.
And really, it shouldn't matter if one believes that Angie Zapata should have disclosed she was transgender to Andrade before getting intimate with him: Not disclosing her natal sex to Andrade shouldn't have resulted in her being seen as a less-than-human "it", and it shouldn't have been reason for Andrade to impose a brutal death sentence. Again, as the judge stated, Andrade could have left the apartment rather than attacking Zapata. Blaming the victim of this vicious crime gives excuse to the alleged murderer of what was by all accounts an atrocious offense; it gives credence to the gay panic defense that Andrade's attorney is going to put forward in the murder trial.
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Update: From the Denver Post (emphasis added):
...But when [Angie Zapata] smiled at [Allen Ray Andrade] and said, "I'm all woman," it drove an enraged Andrade to commit murder, attorney Annette Kundelius said.
"At best, this is a case about passion," Kundelius said. "When (Zapata) smiled at him, this was a highly provoking act, and it would cause someone to have an aggressive reaction."
Just an absolutely incredible statement.
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Related:
* Pam's House Blend tag: Angie Zapata
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