A trans woman was found murdered at home, her body wrapped in a sheet. Hours later, another was deliberately run over
Julie Torres (L) and Sam Rosales (R). Two trans women slain within a day of one another in Mexico. (Twitter)
Two trans women, Julie Torres and Sam Rosales, were slain in Mexico within hours of each other, deeply disturbing local activists already concerned over the rocketing rate of transphobic violence in the country.
On Wednesday (August 19), Torres’ body, wrapped in a sheet, was found in her apartment in the western state of Jalisco. Bruised and bloodied, local leaders say her body showed noticeable signs of torture.
Hours later, early Thursday morning (August 20), Rosales was deliberately run over after being knocked off a motorcycle in Puebla, central Mexico.
The 23-year-old model was riding a motorcycle with a friend when a vehicle began to tail her, reported Homosenual.
According to security camera footage, the Nissan Sentra skimmed just metres away from Rosales before revving up and colliding with her. Torres and her friend were sent flying across Pino Suárez Street in the Revolución neighbourhood of Atlixco at around 1:30am.
The driver of the Nissan Sentra backed up and proceeded to run Rosales over again as her friend appeared to flee, footage showed.
Emergency services were called to the scene and declared Rosales had died from the crash, MSN reported.
Trans activists mourned the deaths of both women. LGBT+ rights group CODISE AC took to Twitter to demand justice for the death of Torres, while activists commented on how Jalisco and trans violence “cannot be separated”.
Others posted touching tributes to Rosales, described by those who knew her as a radiant beauty queen. “It hurts my heart so much to think that Sam will no longer be in this world,” one friend said.
At least 117 LGBT+ people were murdered in Mexico in 2019. More than half were trans women.
Their deaths cap of a dispiriting time for trans Mexicans, where 2019 was dubbed by activists as the deadliest year yet.
A leading queer rights group in the country said that, based on official news reports about murders, Mexico has seen a dizzying rise in LGBT+ murders.
The report by Letra Esse showed that the surge was up nearly a third (27 per cent) from 2018 and the highest figure since 2015. The group warned, however, that real figure might be even higher.
