07/24/2008
Colorado Transgender Woman Murdered in Suspected Hate Crime
Angie Zapata of Greeley, Colorado was beaten to death last week in a crime her family and friends suspect had something to do with the fact that she was transgender.
Fort Collins Now reports: "Police did not say whether Zapata’s gender identity played a part in the homicide. Zapata’s sister, Monica, was quoted in a press release from the Colorado Anti-Violence Program. 'We want to get the whole community involved to find this person who hurt my sister and to let everyone be aware that all she wanted was to be beautiful. We want this violence to end. Transgender people deserve to be treated with respect.' Zapata’s gender identity has caused problems for her in the past, according to Kelly Costello, director of Victim Services for the Colorado Anti-Violence Program. 'But her family had been very supportive of her and were angry she had been called a man in past (news) stories.' Zapata’s family was unavailable to confirm Costello’s statement. In a press release quoted Tuesday on the TransGriot Web site, Kelly asked readers to contact The Tribune to complain about Zapata first being reported as a man. The newspaper has received about a dozen email complaints. The Greeley police and the Weld County Coroner’s Office identify Zapata as a man. Her obituary, however, shows the family accepted her as a woman."
According to FCN, "Zapata’s body was found July 17 in the apartment, according to the warrant. After family members were unable to reach her by telephone, her sister went to the house and got a key from the landlord. She found Zapata lying on the living room floor, covered by a blanket. She was already dead."
Posted 11:31 AM EST by Andy Towle in Colorado, Crime, News, Transgender | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
As in all incidents reported here on TR, we should wait for the facts to come in before spouting off.
Posted by: anon | Jul 24, 2008 11:55:09 AM
What an incredibly sad story. God bless her family for their supportive attitudes. If all she ever wanted was to be beautiful, I hope she knows she was, and will be remembered as just that: a beautiful woman.
Posted by: Derek | Jul 24, 2008 12:05:16 PM
All she wanted was to be beautiful---and, presumably, alive.
Posted by: Paul R | Jul 24, 2008 1:48:23 PM
That's a real fucking shame. She was a beautiful girl. I look forward to hearing more deets on the case.
No yodeling from the TR anti-trans peanut gallery? I'm pleasantly surprised.
Posted by: Chas | Jul 24, 2008 1:56:41 PM
So sad. Im from the northern Colorado area...and now live in Los Angeles. Horrible things happen everywhere but this is very tragic. Greeley is a very conservative town, but its no excuse for murder. I hope this murder is not over looked because of her being transgender.
Posted by: Ross | Jul 24, 2008 1:58:13 PM
So sad. Im from the northern Colorado area...and now live in Los Angeles. Horrible things happen everywhere but this is very tragic. Greeley is a very conservative town, but its no excuse for murder. I hope this murder is not over looked because of her being transgender.
Posted by: Ross | Jul 24, 2008 2:01:03 PM
So true EVAN. Every gay person I've heard of (some I knew) who were beaten to death were beaten until they were unrecognizable....the way Emmit Till was beaten 50 plus years ago--another thing the black and gay communities CAN'T deny they have in common.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Jul 24, 2008 2:20:15 PM
Still an XY to me.
Posted by: Chris | Apr 23, 2009 4:05:38 AM
he's evil and the defense attorney is a nasty soul as well. to continue to use the pronoun "he" and "justin" in referring to angie was a total disregard for a human being whose courage to be who she was showed a horrendous disrespect for not only angie but for those who accepted angie's acceptance of herself...
Posted by: STEVE RICHMOND | Apr 23, 2009 2:29:22 PM