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In Colorado, Allen Andrade was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence for the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Angie Zapata. Andrade was also found guilty of a hate crime.
This was a landmark decision because it marks the first case in the country where hate crime statue has been used to prosecute the murder of a transgender person. Colorado is one of the few states to include transgender individuals under protection of hate crime laws.
The jury deliberated for less than 2 hours before finding Andrade guilty for beating the teen Zapata to death with a fire extinguisher. Advocates for the transgender community hope the verdict will send a messageto detract from violence against transgender people in the future.
"It's not going to be allowed to happen a whole lot, ever again, that a transgender person is killed and the defense is, 'Oh, I just snapped,'" said Susan Matthews, with the Gender Identity Center in Lakewood.
For more information on the landmark case as well as reaction from the tragic young victim's family, click here to visit the Denver Channel.
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