Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Arrest in Transgender Woman’s Murder in Queens, NY

Rasheen Everett, arrested in Las Vegas (Anderson photo for the NY Daily News)

Queens, NY – the NY Daily News reports that police in Las Vegas, Nevada have arrested the man wanted in the strangulation murder of transgender woman Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar.  Rahseen Everett, 29, (pictured at left in custody) allegedly strangled Ms. Gonzalez-Andujar in her Queens apartment.  She was also 29 years of age.  Everett is an ex-convict who is wanted in connection with two attempted murders in Massachusetts.  After the alleged murder in Queens, Everett fled to Las Vegas, hiding out with an unidentified acquaintance.  Police have not released details of the arrest, or how the suspect was traced to Nevada.  Ms. Gonzalez-Andujar’s murder has angered and frightened members of the New York LGBT community, who are calling for the fullest possible penalty for her murderer.  According to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, A memorial service has been announced for her at the Metropolitan Community Church of Manhattan on April 24 from 2 pm to 3 pm.  The address is 446 W. 36th Street (between 9th & 10th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan).  A candlelight vigil is also planned in front of Ms. Gonzalez-Andujar’s Glendale Queens home on the same date, from 4 pm to 5 pm.  Stefanie Rivera, representing the SLP Collective, said, “We are still outraged at the hatred, transphobia and violence that persist to lead to the untimely deaths of more and more transgender and gender nonconforming people, particularly young transgender women of color.”  She pledged to combat the alarming trend of violence against all members of the sexual minority.  On its web site, the SLP Collective says its mission is “to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. Therefore, we seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming.” Ms. Gonzalez-Andujar’s body was found on March 30 some days after her death sprawled naked on her bed by a landlord who was prompted to open her apartment door by concerned friends.  One of those friends, Barbara Vega, told the News, “Everything in the apartment was destroyed. All her Marilyn Monroe pictures were destroyed.”

April 19, 2010 - Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Hate Crimes, home-invasion, Latino and Latina Americans, New York, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Strangulation, transgender persons, transphobia, Vigils | , , , , , , , , , ,

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