Prosecutors have asked for a life sentence for the man accused of murdering Tehuel de la Torre, the 23-year-old trans man who disappeared in Buenos Aires Province in 2021. Closing arguments wrapped up on Friday afternoon. It is Argentina’s first trial for a case of trans-homicide (the murder of a trans man). 

Facing consistent discrimination for his gender identity and in dire financial straits, de la Torre left for the house of Luis Alberto Ramos on March 11, 2021, with the promise of a job as a waiter. He was never seen again. Ramos was charged with de la Torre’s murder. A second defendant will stand trial separately. 

The case has become sadly emblematic for the trans-travesti community. Advocates have shown how wide-ranging systemic issues facing the community fed into his disappearance, such as discrimination, exclusion from the formal labor market, and the justice system’s frequent refusal to investigate or prosecute attacks against trans people.

The trial, held at the Second Criminal Oral Tribunal in La Plata, shed more light on the day of Tehuel’s disappearance. Expert teams presented the contents of suspects’ phones and a psychological evaluation of Ramos which described him as “violent” and with “marked psychopathic traits.” Blood found in Ramos’ house was proven to be a 99.9% match to Tehuel (or the biological child of his parents using samples of their blood).

Ramos opted for a technical jury trial instead of a popular jury, meaning that technical evidence was evaluated by three judges instead of 12 civilians. According to the prosecution, foregoing the popular jury was a move to increase the chances of acquittal, since he had a prior conviction for homicide and had previously faced accusations of sexual assault. He did not testify during the trial.

Ramos’s defense centered on disputing the validity of the prosecution’s evidence and the fact that de la Torre’s body has never been found. His lawyer is calling for him to be acquitted.

The case is complicated by the ongoing search for de la Torre, and the decision to proceed with a murder trial has caused tension within the family.

“The tensions flare because everyone, especially the family, wants to find Tehuel alive, but there are enough elements to prove otherwise in court,” said Centurión. “I do think we have to keep looking, the legal case is still open. It’s important to find Tehuel, to find his remains, for the family as well as for society to have that certainty.”

The verdict will be announced on August 30.

Prosecutors Cristian González and Flavia Centurión told the Herald they were confident that Ramos would be found guilty. 

“It’s what the community is waiting for and would give visibility to the lack of basic rights suffered by the LGBT community, among which access to justice is incredibly important,” said Centurión. “Crimes, even very serious crimes, are underreported because [victims] know they won’t get an answer.”

You may also be interested in: A trans man went to a job interview. He never returned

The trans-travesti community held a “Justice Festival for Tehuel” outside the court on Friday, a culmination of group solidarity that was present throughout the proceedings. The courtroom was generally brimming with activists, community referents, and friends of the family to “socially monitor” the trial while many others waited outside in support, according to Aramis Amaris, a genderqueer lawyer and activist who attended part of the trial.

“He was a person of color who lived in poverty, a young trans man who lived in an underprivileged neighborhood here in Buenos Aires province,” said Amaris. “I think it is an opportunity for transmasculinities here in Argentina to be able to specify the type of violence or the type of situations they can go through in relation to the trans-travesti community in general.”

Amaris often attends trials at the La Plata court where the murder trial was held — but the same judges are more often prosecuting trans people, especially trans women and travestis. Unlike its direct English translation, travesti in Argentina is a gender identity with deep political roots that is worn with pride.

“As LGBTQIA+ people we’re more liable to criminalization than protection in the penal system,” Amaris said. 

While de la Torre’s case has finally made it to court, three years and five months after he disappeared, the crucial first days were marked by a litany of errors, according to González.

No trans witnesses called

“The first failing was that it took four days for authorities to take his girlfriend’s statement that he was missing. That’s the first denial of justice,” he said. “The second was that when the search began, they said they were looking for a woman. Wasting time, and what little time was dedicated to the search was a bad use of resources with a marked lack of gender perspective.”

“Not a single trans person was called on throughout the entire investigation,” he added, explaining that the prosecution was not allowed to present two transgender witnesses during the trial.

Now, de la Torre’s family, friends, and lawyers will face a five-week wait for the verdict. 

“We mustn’t renounce the judicial process but we also shouldn’t deposit all our hopes that the same place that has hurt our community so much over the years will repair that damage,” Amaris said. 

“We have to support each other and make the most of this moment to loudly denounce all the specific violence that affects each letter of the LGBTQIA+ acronym.”