GREELEY, Colo. — A jury took only two hours Wednesday to convict a Thornton man of first-degree murder and a hate crime in the savage beating death of a transgender woman.
Prosecutors argued Allen Andrade, 32, had known for hours that 18-year-old Angie Zapata was biologically male and beat her with a fire extinguisher because he disliked gays.
The defense didn’t deny that Andrade killed Zapata but said Andrade had just learned Zapata’s identity after spending hours with her and lashed out without thinking.
A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole and the bias crime conviction carries an additional three years. The judge set formal sentencing for later Wednesday.
Andrade was also convicted of a bias-motivated crime, Colorado’s version of a hate crime. It’s believed to be the first time anyone has been prosecuted under that state statute for a crime involving a transgender person.
Andrade was also convicted of auto theft and identity theft.
When the verdict was read, Andrade put his hand to his chin and wiped his goatee. Zapata’s family let out an audible gasp.
The eight-man, four women jury got the case about 12:30 p.m. after four days of testimony.
Prosecutors presented evidence that tied Andrade to the crime scene and played recorded jail conversations where he referred to Zapata as “it” and said it wasn’t as if he “killed a straight, law-abiding citizen.”
“His own statements in the jail call betray the way he values Angie’s life, the way he thought of her as less than, less than us because of who she was,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Robb Miller told jurors.
“Everyone deserves equal protection under the law and no one deserves to die like this,” Miller said.
Prosecutors said Zapata was beaten so severely that investigators couldn’t determine how many times she was hit. They argued that shows Andrade acted with deliberation when he killed her.
Prosecutors also said the evidence shows Andrade knew Zapata’s biological gender long before the beating. They said Andrade had attended a court hearing with Zapata where court officials used her legal name, Justin, and that other witnesses testified that when Zapata’ spoke, she sounded like a man trying to disguise his voice.
The defense argued that Andrade and Zapata agreed to meet for sex after Zapata deceptively described herself as a straight female, and that Andrade snapped when he discovered Zapata was a man.
“This is not something that people plan for,” defense attorney Annette Kundelius told jurors. “This isn’t a situation where people know how they would act.”
She asked jurors to consider the lowest possible charge, criminally negligent homicide.
Kundelius said Andrade’s statements were jokes made by a man who knew he was innocent.
“Was it in poor taste, was it a smart thing to say?” Kundelius asked jurors. “No. But it doesn’t mean he committed murder.”
Gay rights activists hope publicity from the case will pressure Congress to add sexual orientation and gender identity to a federal hate crime law. That would allow the FBI and other federal agencies to investigate crimes against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
