Jury convicts man of hate crime in transgender murder

GREELEY - After four days of testimony and roughly two hours of deliberations, the jury in a transgender murder trial handed down what is being called a precedent-setting guilty verdict.

The jury found 32-year-old Allen Andrade guilty of both first-degree murder and of a bias motivated crime or hate crime. It is believed to be the first conviction in state history for a hate crime against a transgender person.

Deliberations began in the noon hour and the verdict was reached shortly before 3 p.m.

Andrade was convicted of beating 18-year-old Angie Zapata - a transgender teenager - to death with a fire extinguisher last year in her Greeley apartment. Zapata was born Justin, but was living as a woman.

When the verdict was read in court Andrade looked like he was in shock, while the Zapata family was in tears.

Andrade was also convicted of auto and identity theft. The first-degree murder conviction required a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

By his sentencing at 4 p.m., Andrade had already been stripped of the collared shirt he was wearing during the verdict reading, and was clad in an orange prison jumpsuit. His hands were shackled to his waist.

"It's been so hard, so hard for my family and myself," Maria Zapata, Angie's mother, said at the sentencing, her voice quavering. "It's been so very, very hard. I lost something, somebody so precious."

Maria Zapata continued to read from a letter she had prepared.

"I just feel so alone sometimes," Maria Zapata said while crying. "Mr. Andrade, he has the opportunity to have his family, to see him, to write to him. He never gave me that opportunity with my baby."

After Zapata finished speaking, Chief Deputy District Attorney Robb Miller added: "I think it's quite clear that the evidence brought out showed that Mr. Andrade valued Angie Zapata's life less than other lives and I think it's important that the court make that clear when it gives its sentence today."

Andrade's attorney, Annette Kundelius, told the court her client had family at the trial who loved and supported him; family that Andrade cared about as well.

"I think that it's important that everybody know that Mr. Andrade is not some kind of monster that I think has somewhat been portrayed," Kundelius said.

Andrade's sister Christina Cruz said: "Nobody wanted to be in this position, you know. We've sat on this side of the courtroom too. My brother has a family as well. I'm very sorry. This is a very tragic thing that happened, but it was not something that we signed up for. And my brother is human. I love my brother and we're not supporting the outcome, but we do support him as my brother and we love him very much."

Andrade showed emotion while his sister was speaking and wiped away a tear.

When the judge asked Andrade if he had anything he wanted to say, he spoke only one syllable.

"No," Andrade said.

Zapata's family continued to be emotional outside the courtroom.

"A big brother is supposed to protect his little sister. It breaks my hear that there was nothing I could do to protect my little sister," Gonzalo Zapata, Angie's older brother, said. "Justice was achieved for my sister today. The message was sent loud and clear that targeting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people will not be tolerated in Colorado."

"We will always love you Angie, and we will always miss you mija," he said.

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, applauded Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck for pursuing a hate crime conviction in the case.

"We owe the jury a debt of gratitude for seeing through the shameful 'trans panic' defense which attempted to blame the victim for this heinous crime," HRC President Joe Solmonese stated in a news release.

Solmonese called the murder a "tragic reminder of the hate and ignorance that threatens the transgender community every day."

HRC Associate Director of Diversity Allyson Robinson, a transgender woman, said she was grateful for the guilty verdict.

"The sheer brutality of Angie's murder - the way her killer viewed her as less than human simply because of her gender identity and expression - highlights our community's desperate need for hate crimes protection," said Robinson.

9NEWS Legal Analyst Scott Robinson says the verdict may affect cases across the country.

"It's a case that other prosecutors across the country can look to decide whether to charge murder or some lesser charge in a similar case," Robinson said. "It may deter others from committing similar crimes and encourage prosecutors to prosecute those cases as murder - nothing less."

In its closing arguments, the prosecution argued Andrade knew Zapata was transgender well before the murder and, therefore, applied reason to his actions.

"So if he knew she was a biological male, this is nothing less than first-degree murder," said Robb Miller, chief deputy district attorney in Weld County. "It's time for this man to be held accountable."

Kundelius told jurors Andrade discovered Zapata was transgender just before the murder.

"When he found out, he lost control ... There was nothing going through his head at that time," Kundelius said.

In trying to convince jurors Andrade is also guilty of a bias motivated crime, Miller pointed to phone calls Andrade made from jail, in which he made statements like, "Gay things must die."

Kundelius stated Andrade showed no signs of homophobia prior to the murder and claims his actions were sparked by "deception" rather than hatred or prejudice.