Colorado Man Charged With Murdering Transgender Woman

A Colorado man is accused of fatally battering a sex partner with a fire extinguisher after discovering that his companion was a transgender woman.

Allen Ray Andrade, 31, faces several charges, including second-degree murder, in the death of Justin Zapata, 20, who was known as Angie Zapata. The victim's bloodied, battered body was discovered in her apartment by her sister on July 17.

Weld County district attorney Ken Buck said Wednesday that he is considering filing first-degree murder charges and may prosecute the death as a hate crime.

Andrade was arrested in the Denver suburb of Thornton, where he lives. Police responding to a noise complaint found him in Zapata's 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser, which had been missing.

Andrade told investigators that he met Zapata through MocoSpace, a social network designed primarily for cell phone users, according to an arrest affidavit released by Greeley police. The two met July 15 and spent the day together.

Andrade told investigators that Zapata performed oral sex on him but wouldn't let him touch her, according to the affidavit.

He said he also spent the night at Zapata's apartment, but in separate beds. The next day, Zapata left Andrade alone in her apartment, and Andrade noticed several photographs that led him to question Zapata's gender.

Andrade confronted Zapata when she got back. He grabbed Zapata's crotch area, felt male genitalia and became angry, the affidavit says. He told investigators that he took a fire extinguisher off a shelf, struck Zapata twice in the head, and thought he ''killed it.''

''It's disgusting,'' Greeley, Colo., police chief Jerry Garner said of Andrade's reference to Zapata. ''It's a horrible thing to say.''

Andrade told investigators he covered Zapata with a blanket and started gathering evidence he thought might link him to the crime when he heard gurgling sounds and noticed Zapata was sitting up. That's when he picked up the fire extinguisher and hit her again, police said. He left the scene in her car.

Zapata's sister, Monica Murguia, couldn't be reached for comment on Andrade's arrest. She told Denver's KDVR-TV that Andrade deserved to remain behind bars forever.

''He took a part of our heart, he did, when he killed her,'' she said after reading the arrest affidavit.

A guard at the jail said information about whether Andrade had an attorney was not available. There was no telephone listing for him in Thornton. (P. Solomon Banda, AP)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Name: Rachel
Date posted: 2008-08-26 2:41 PM
Hometown: Forest park, Georgia

Comment:

To add to Rev. Lipsitz comment. How do people like me threaten anyones sexuality? Their sexuality is theirs and theirs alone. I can't take it from you and you sure as hell can't give it to me. As far as I'm concerned I hope that idiot get's the death penalty. He took the life of an innocent person in a very cruel way. Living as a trans woman is hard enough as it is. We don't need the threat to our lives to be added in. Hopefully otheers will read these comments and come to their senses. I'm talking about anyone who thinks they can get away with killing another human being just because they are a little different from them.

Name: chin
Date posted: 2008-08-01 2:56 PM
Hometown: seattle

Comment:

Oh the irony! Now he'll spend his life in prison where his only options for sexual outlet will be either being somebody's girlfriend or making some other man his girlfriend. Str8 guys, if you're really that freaked out by accidentally hooking up with a trannie, why not do the incedibly easy footwork of asking those all important questions about plumbing and background etc BEFOREHAND. It's alot less trouble in the long run... All kidding aside, there is a very real phenomenon of predatory men who seek hookups with trannies with the intent of "freaking out" and beating them or killing them later, especially in the midwest. Who knows if that applies in this case... but it needs saying.

Name: Rev. Deborah J Lipsitz
Date posted: 2008-08-01 12:30 PM
Hometown: Southern California

Comment:

I can see the argument now... Since technically being transgender is not a "sexual preference," but a gender identity issue, the defense will argue that the hate crimes statutes should not apply. Then, the defense will argue diminished capacity, because the defendant acted out of an immediate emotional rage, as opposed to stalking and planning the killing. Personally, I hope the creature gets life in prison without any possibility of parole. The death penalty is too easy an out for someone like this. I want him to rot in prison, thinking about the love he murdered, the family he destroyed, and the future he lost. I want him to think all about that while he tries to make the biggest, nastiest, meanest guy in the prison his husband! And I want him to live to be 110 years old! Yeah, I'm angry. What kind of society teaches men it's okay to kill if your sexuality is threatened?

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