Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Now Angie can Rest


Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and a bias-motivated crime and sentenced to life in prison for killing Angie Zapata.

If you don't know the story, here it is.

Allen and Angie met online last summer where they spent nearly three days together at his apartment. After finding out that she was a transgendered woman, Allen attacked her and killed her.

Now, the verdict was given and justice was served.

It the first time in the nation that a state hate crime statute was used to prosecute a transgender person's murder, the advocacy group Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said.

Seated in the front row of the courtroom, the family of Justin "Angie" Zapata broke out in tears as the verdicts were read.

The jury deliberated for just under two hours before returning the verdict shortly after 3 p.m.

Jurors will return to court later this afternoon to consider Andrade's sentence. He faces life in prison without parole.

"This is a landmark decision," said Mindy Barton, the legal director of the GLBT Community Center of Colorado. Barton attended the trial daily.

"Hearing 'guilty on first-degree murder' and 'guilty of bias-motivated crime' was a hugely emotional experience for all the family, friends and the supporters of Angie," Barton added.

"She will not be forgotten."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hadn't heard this story. This is a shame, luckily she got some justice...

Son of Baldwin said...

Thank God the killer was another minority. Were he white, he would have gotten off.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.