Subj : PUERTO RICAN AUTHORITIES CONFIRM MURDER OF TWO TRANSGENDER WOMEN
To : All
From : Major Queen
Date : Sat Apr 25 2020 06:30 pm
APRIL 25, 2020 SOURCE EXPRESS
Puerto Rican authorities have confirmed that they are now investigating the
murders of two transgender women.
Reported by the Puerto Rican newspaper, Primera Hora, authorities found the
bodies of Serena Angelique Vel�zquez and Layla Pelaez's in a car under a
bridge in the municipality of Humacao on the island's southeast coast.
It has also been reported by another Puerto Rican newspaper, El Nuevo D�a
that both Vel�zquez and Pelaez had been shot and the car in which they were
found in had been set on fire.
Speaking on behalf of the local police, Captain Teddy Morales explained to
local media that detectives are investigating the case, trying to identify
and interview those who may have seen Vel�zquez and Pelaez before they were
killed.
El Comit� Amplio para la B�squeda de la Equidad (CABE), which is a coalition
of Puerto Rican LGBT+ advocacy groups have since urged authorities to
investigate the murders as hate crimes, however, Captain Teddy Morales has
also said investigators have not identified a possible motive.
"We urge the police to adequately, immediately and with sensitivity
investigate these vile and atrocious murders of Serena Angelique Vel�zquez
and Layla Pelaez," a CABE spokesperson Ivana Fred explained in a press
release.
"There are already four murders of trans people in less than two months.
First, it was Alexa, then Yampi and now Serena and Layla. Enough is enough.
Trans people deserve to live in peace, equity and freedom. Enough of so much
hate," he added.
The two recent murders sadly follow the murders of another two transgender
people who had their lives taken in Puerto Rico since the beginning of the
year, including Alexa, a trans homeless woman who was brutally murdered in
the municipality of Toa Baja in February, and Yampi M�ndez Arocho, a trans
man, who was killed in the municipality of Moca in March.
