Gwen Amber Rose Araujo (February 24, 1985 - October 4, 2002) is an American teenager murdered in Newark, California. He was killed by four men, two of whom he had sexually intimate, who beat and strangled him after learning that he was transgendered. Two of the defendants were convicted of second-degree murder, but were not punished for the increased crime of hatred demanded. Two other defendants pleaded guilty or there was no contest for voluntary murder. At least in one of the trials, "trans panic defense" - an extension of gay-panic defense - was employed. Some contemporary news reports refer to her birth name.
Video Murder of Gwen Araujo
Sketsa biografis
Araujo is the second child of four siblings, named after his father. His parents divorced when he was 10 months old.
Araujo had come out as a transgender in 1999 at the age of 14 and started using Gwen's name after her favorite musician, Gwen Stefani, but also went by Wendy and Lida. Gwen began to grow her hair long and planned to undergo hormonal and surgical treatment. Araujo's sister said that Gwen was harassed in junior high school because of her voice and her attitude. He was transferred to an alternative secondary school, but did not return for the academic year 2002-03.
Maps Murder of Gwen Araujo
Witness account of Araujo's murder
Araujo first met Michael Magidson, JosÃÆ' © Merà © Ã… ©, Jaron Nabors, and Jason Cazares in late August or early September 2002. The night they met Araujo, he flirted with the four men and they sucked marijuana together. After he left, Nabors asked the other three "Could this be a man?" but none of the four men thought about it seriously. Later, she was involved in oral sex with Magidson and anal sex with Merà ©  © l. She claims to be menstruating and during sex will push her partner's hand away from his cock to prevent them from discovering that she has a penis.
According to an interview with Nicole Brown, who dated brother José © © © and Araujo, he and Araujo had been involved in a physical battle after Brown challenged Araujo to expose the men. Araujo shocked Brown with a hard blow during the fight, and Brown said the men "stumbled, because he was smaller than me and as strong as he was, fighting like a man." The four men debated whether Araujo was a woman at the end of September, concluding that "something bad could happen" to her if she did not.
Confrontation at party
On the night of October 3, 2002, Araujo attended a party in a house rented by Merà © à © l and his older brother, Paul MerÃÆ' © l. Also attended the party was Magidson, Josà © Ã… © Merà © Ã… © l, Nabors, Cazares, Paul Merà ©  © l, Nicole Brown (girlfriend Paul Merà © Ã… © l), and Emmanual MerÃÆ' © l (JosÃÆ' © sister). Nabor later testified that JosÃÆ' © MerÃÆ' © l said that night, "I swear, if it was a man, I would kill him.If it was a man, he would not leave." According to Nabors, Magidson added, "I do not know what I would do," and Nabors replied, "Whatever you do, make sure you do not make a mess." In the interview, Brown said the four men were in a club together and did not return home until after midnight.
In the early hours of October 4, Magidson asked Araujo to reveal his sex or let him touch his genitals, which he rejected. Brown suggests that one of them should check Araujo, and Magidson takes Gwen to the bathroom. After half an hour, in which Josà ©  © Merà ©  © l confessed she had had sex with Araujo, Brown went to the bathroom, where she found Gwen was a transgender woman during a forced checkup. Brown is shocked and exclaims, "This is a man!", After which the people who had sex with him became angry and fierce. Araujo tried to leave the party after Brown warned that his people were "very angry", but after coming out through the front door, Araujo was confronted and forced back into the house by Magidson, Nabors, and Cazares, according to Brown's testimony. Emmanuel MerÃÆ' © l testified that he also tried to escort Araujo from home, but was prevented by Magidson and Nabors.
JosÃÆ'Â © MerÃÆ'Â © v vomiting when knowing that Araujo is biologically male, then begins to cry in disbelief, saying "I can not be gay." Brown testified he was trying to cheer up José © after the discovery by saying "It's not your fault I went to high school with you, and you're on the soccer team Every woman who knows you after this will not be a problem. He goes."
After he was brought back home, Magidson grabbed a skirt and underwear in Araujo in an attempt to expose his genitals. He then begins punching his face, dropping it to the ground, and putting it in chokehold, but he is pulled by someone else. Araujo begs the men to stop, saying "No, please do not, I have a family."
Josà ©  © became angry and beat Araujo in the head with a can of food, wounded the can and opened the wound on his head, and then he hit it again with a frying pan. The last words of JosÃÆ' © Merà © Ã… © l heard Araujo speak was, "I told you I'm sorry."
At a certain point after that, Brown wakes his sleeping girlfriend, Paul Merà © Å © l, and they leave home with Emmanuel Merà ©  © l. Emmanuel then testified he walked into a shop to buy gum, then went to a friend's house for the night.
Nabor and Cazares left with Magidson trucks to pick up shovels and pickaxes from Cazares's house, saying when they left the Merane house, others would "kill the b." Brown remembers that after he left with Paul, they drove around the block and returned home to see Nabors and Cazares go by Magidson truck.
Gwen Araujo's murder
When Nabor and Cazares returned, Araujo was still conscious, bleeding from his head wound and sitting on the couch. MerÃÆ'Â © l became concerned that Araujo was bleeding on the couch and ordered Araujo to let him go. At some point, the attack continued. Nabor and Cazares urged others to "knock b-out", according to Nabors's testimony in February 2003. Magidson knees in the head against the living room wall, making him unconscious. Nabor testified that Magidson's attack was so severe that it left a dent in the wall and broke the cast. Cazares kicked him. Mera © I am afraid to clean Araujo's blood from the sofa and carpet before returning to his room so that others do not see him crying.
After Araujo fainted, Magidson tied his wrists and ankles, then he was wrapped in a blanket to minimize the amount of blood that tainted the carpet before being taken to the garage of the house, where the defendants' testimony was distorted. Nabors testified that Magidson strangled him with a rope and Cazares hit him with a shovel, but Nabor returned from the garage and did not actually witness the strangulation act. Nabor testified that he saw Magidson lift the rope around Araujo's neck before he left the garage and Magidson then told the others "that he has wrapped the rope around Lida's neck and turned it around." According to Nabors, Magidson "is not sure if Lida has died for turning the rope, but once Jason [Cazares] hit him twice with a shovel, he knows he's dead".
Magidson testified that it was not Nabor who strangled him and hit him with a shovel, and Cazares testified that he never hit him and did not see him die. Josà ©  © MerÃÆ' © l testified he cleaned Araujo's blood from the carpet and couch when Magidson tied his ankle, before he was taken to the garage. MerÃÆ' © l also said he thought he was alive until he saw Gwen's body on the truck bed of Magidson. It is unclear at what point during this series of events he died. However, the autopsy showed that he died of strangulation associated with blunt object trauma to the head. According to Merà ©  © l, Magidson says he is not sure he died until they hit him with a shovel.
He was then placed in a pickup truck bed, and four men then rode his body four hours away, burying him near the Sierra Nevada mountains in a shallow grave in the El Dorado National Forest near Silver Fork Road in El Dorado Region. On the way home, they order breakfast at McDonald's drive-through window. Later that morning, during a phone conversation, Brown asked Josà © © Merà © l what had happened, and he replied, "Let's say [Gwen] has been walking home for a long time." Loss and murder were not reported for days.
Catching and testing
Party audiences did not report the crime and the assailants did not say anything to anyone about the murder. Araujo, who usually checks in with her mother, did not come home the day after the party, so Araujo's mother called the police on October 5 to report her missing. The police did not initially take the case of missing persons seriously in part because Gwen was transgendered, and she was known to stay away from home all night. Rumors began to reach the Araujo family in a few days that a girl who had opened her guise as a transgender at a party had been killed and buried in Tahoe, and my aunt Araujo called the police on October 9 to tell the story. Police began interviewing party attendees, and one of them led the police to the Meron family's home.
Two days after Araujo was reported missing, a friend of Jaron Nabors described it as looking desperate. The Nabor people had confessed to a friend what the four had done immediately after returning from the grave. The friend told the police, and agreed to wear a microphone during the next conversation with Nabors about the murder. Faced with the recording, Nabors agreed to lead the authority to Gwen's body on October 15th.
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office sent four crime scene investigators and two detectives to recover Gwen's body from the grave site. The four people who were initially arrested and accused of murder were Michael Magidson, 22; Jaron Nabors, 19; JosÃÆ' © MerÃÆ' © l, 22; and Paul Mera Ã… © l, the older brother of Josà ©.
Paul MerÃÆ' © l was quickly released because his girlfriend came forward to the police telling them that Paul had left that night with him. Paul Merà © à © l and his girlfriend have never been prosecuted and witnessed for prosecution. Emmanuel MerÃÆ' © l did not contact the police until after his brother, Paul, was arrested. After Emmanuel spoke with the police, the allegations against Paul were dropped the next day. Magidson, Nabors, and Josà ©  © MerÃÆ' © l was indicted for the murder on October 17 and detained without any guarantees. On October 24, Jaron Nabors pleaded not guilty; Magidson is still looking for a lawyer, and MerÃÆ' © l is still reviewing the evidence against him. In an interview with Los Angeles Times , Merà © l believed that the fee would be dropped.
After he was arrested, Nabors wrote a letter to a girlfriend in which he stated that the defendants had discussed the "Soprano type plan" to "kill b-- (Araujo) and get rid of his body". The letter was intercepted by sheriff officials and led to the capture of Cazares on November 19. Jason Cazares was first identified as a potential witness to the Araujo murder on October 22, and was subsequently arrested a month later after another defendant, after a letter from Nabors explained that he was innocent of being intercepted. In the first trial, defense lawyer Tony Serra accused Nabors of writing letters that knew would be intercepted and Cazares would be involved.
Jaron Nabors
Nabors pleaded guilty on February 24, 2003 to a lesser charge of voluntary murder, which carries an 11-year prison sentence, along with a promise to testify against three other defendants. During official acknowledgment, Judge Kenneth Burr warned Nabors that he could still be charged with murder if the prosecutor found him not "living until the end of the deal."
During the February 2003 trial, Nabors gave a detailed account of Gwen Araujo's murder and burial. When they bury it, people continue to belittle it. Nabors testified that he claimed he "could not believe that someone would do that, would be a cheater" and that Josà ©  © MerÃÆ' © l added "he is so angry he can still kick him a few more times".
Nabors received an 11-year sentence on August 25, 2006. With credit for the time served, he is expected to spend about five years in prison since then.
Magical sponsors Magidson, MerÃÆ'Â © l, and Cazares >
First trial
Prior to the first trial, prosecutor, deputy district prosecutor Chris Lamiero offered a mixed opinion on Araujo, but concluded that merely being a transgender should not be a death sentence: "One can debate the propriety of a person choosing to identify with another gender than they were born But I believe the jury to understand that people can not make life or death decisions based solely on one's lifestyle. That's not the world where I want to live or most people want to live in. "
The selection of judges for Magidson courts, JosÃÆ' © Merà © Ã… ©, and Cazares began on March 15, 2004. Jury candidates were asked whether they knew lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender; whether they know newly married couples; whether they meet transgender people; or whether they have seen "movie or theater performances depicting the activities of a transgender". One defense attorney explains that the last question has specifically asked whether the juror has watched the Boys Do not Cry Movie or The Laramie Project drama, but was altered after an advisory defense that specific, those who will not be asked to watch one or both.
The first trial began on 14 April 2004. Prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Alameda District Chris Lamiero used the male pronoun to refer to Araujo and said the defendants had decided "that [...] the sin of Araujo was death." In his opening statement, Magidson's defense attorney argued that he should not be accused of murder, not the worst murder, under California law. Magidson's lawyer says that his client is unbiased and has been "unreasonably surprised" to know that he was inadvertently having sex with a man, a variant of a gay panic panic.
During his testimony, Nabors said he felt his friends had been raped, because "[Araujo] forced [Magidson and MerÃÆ'Â © l] to be homosexual [through deceit], and my definition of rape was forced into sex."
The first trial ended with the cancellation of the trial on June 22 after the judges were unable to reach a unanimous decision for the three men after nine days of deliberation. While the jury agrees that Araujo has been killed, they can not agree on whether it is planned. The final vote is 10-2 in favor of releasing Merel and Cazares from first-degree murder, and 7-5 in favor of Magidson's punishment for first-degree murder. Although they were given the option of punishing people who committed second-degree murder or ordinary murder, they could not continue the first-degree murder process.
Second test
The second trial commenced on 31 May 2005. The publicity by transgender activists was credited with publicly notifying the successful tactics that had been tried by defenders' lawyers to blame Gwen for her own death, altering her approach to the case. The day after the first trial ends with the cancellation of the trial, the court grants the request of Araujo's mother to change the posthumous name, forcing defense lawyers to call Gwen with female pronouns. Magidson, Merà © Å ©, and Cazares were charged with first-degree murder with an increase in hate crime. The three defendants testified at this trial - and blame each other and Nabor.
During the closing statement of the second trial, defense lawyer Tony Serra (representing Jason Cazares) stated on August 25, 2005 that the three defendants were the "most ordinary people" guilty of, at most, the killing of their role in Gwen's death. Araujo in "classic heat and passion." Serra also argues that Cazares did not take an active role in killing Araujo. To avoid a second mistake, District Attorney Chris Lamiero argues for first-degree murder convictions, but gives the jurors the choice for second-degree murder convictions for a third, or even murder of Merale. Lamiero asks the jury to restore the conviction of first-degree murder Magidson and Cazares, groping Magidson as the main actor who strangled Araujo and called him "a bad excuse for a man" with a list of "stupid and stupid" reasons for killing him..
On September 8, the jury announced that they had reached a verdict on two of the three defendants. As Judge Harry Sheppard ordered, the verdict was kept secret.
On September 12, after a week of consideration, the jury announced its verdict. The jury has stumbled upon Cazares, with a 9-3 vote in favor of Cazares's conviction for murder. Magidson and MerÃÆ' Â © l each were found guilty of second-degree murder charges, but were not punished for alleged increases in hate crime. After the trial one of the jurors stated in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle the assassination conviction was because "Community standards are not and can not be that murder is something that a reasonable person would do that night." But it does not hate crime because the murder was believed to have been done not because Araujo was transgender, but to "cover up the situation that had been out of control."
The District Assistant of the Alameda District, Chris Lamiero, who represents the prosecution in this case, undermines criminal intent by commenting:
Gwen being transgender is not a provocative act. That's who he is. However, I will not further ignore the fact that Gwen made some decisions in relation to the defendants who are unlikely to be retained, "he added. I do not think most jurors would think it's good to involve someone in sexual activity. knowing they think you have one sexual anatomy when you do not do it. "
Michael Magidson and Josà © MerÃÆ' © l were sentenced in January to 15 years to life in prison for a second-rate assassination of the killing.
Jason Cazares
In order to avoid a third trial, Jason Cazares admitted there was no contest for murder on December 16, 2005, in a bargain offered after two juries stumbled upon his fate. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Gloria Allred's lawyer represents the Araujo family. Cazares was asked to begin serving his sentence after the birth of his third child, scheduled for March or April 2006, but Lamiero noted "it is difficult for me to meet such a request when Gwen Araujo dies." According to Lamiero, Cazares was willing to plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact, but the deal was rejected because of his three-year sentence and admitted not guilty in the murder of Araujo.
Aftermath
Gwen Araujo mourns in public graveyard at St. Catholic Church Edwards in Newark on October 25, 2002. Fred Phelps and Westboro Phapts Baptist Church members promised to have funerals, but were mainly absent. Araujo was cremated, but his mother defended the urn with his ashes.
At the request of Araujo's mother, the posthumously posthumously changed its official name from Edward Araujo Jr. became Gwen Amber Rose Araujo on June 23, 2004. "Amber Rose" is the name of the mother Gwen was chosen before she was born in a baby girl show.
At the first anniversary of the murders, the Horizons Foundation created Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund for Transgender Education. The IMF's goal is to support school-based programs in the nine-county Gulf Areas that promote the understanding of transgender people and issues through an annual grant. Through this funding, Araujo's mother and family speak in high school and above about transgender awareness and understanding. In 2005, Araujo's mother had spoken in more than 20 schools.
Media depictions
- The Lifetime movie titled Girl Like Me: Gwen Araujo's Story , starring J. D. Pardo and Mercedes Ruehl, premiered in June 2006.
- The case was also the 2007 documentary subject, Trained in Male Ways . This documentary by Michelle Prevost examines the 2002 killings, and aims to eliminate prejudices called gay panic defenses (or trans panic). Deadly ID, an episode of Investigation Discovery Fatal Encounters (Season 1 Episode 8, first aired May 7, 2012) explores the crime timeline of both Araujo and Magidian-based perspectives.
- The episodes of the Discovery Investigation Series The Killings Among Friends series called "Party Murders" (Season 2 Episode 4) first aired on July 6, 2017. This episode examined the case using Gwen's background dramatization , events that lead to murder and its aftermath. It also examines the background of killers and friends, how they were caught, and interviews with victim's mother, friends, and victim supporters, along with showing photos of Gwen and her real killer, and how the trial took place.
California laws
On September 28, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the "Justice Act for the Victims of Gwen Araujo" (AB 1160) into law. The law limits the use of criminal defendants from "gay/trans panic defenses" by allowing parties to instruct judges not to allow biases to influence their decisions, including "bias against victims" based on "gender identity, or sexual orientation". "The law puts California on record as stating it is contrary to public policy for defendants to be acquitted or convicted for offenses including lower offenses on the basis of an appeal to" community bias ".
On September 27, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Bill no. 2501 becomes law. The law further limits the use of gay/trans panic defenses by amending the California marriage law to prohibit defendants from claiming that they are provoked for murder by finding the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity. AB 2501 was introduced by Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla in partnership with Equality California. In announcing their introduction to the bill they quoted the killing of Gwen Araujo and California gay teenager Larry King.
Conditional and release
Jose MerÃÆ'Â © l was given parole in 2016 with the support of Gwen Araujo's mother.
Michael Magidson said he was not ready to be released at his parole hearing in 2016, and his request for parole was also opposed by Araujo's mother.
Jason Cazares was released from prison in July 2012.
Jaron Nabors has also been released from prison around 2016.
Sylvia Guerrero, Gwen Araujo's mother, suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and now has no place to live. He has talked to thousands of students about the murder of his daughter.
See also
References
Further reading
- "People v. Merel". California Court of Appeals, First Appeals District, Division Four. May 12, 2009 . Retrieved March 31 2018 .
- Guerrero, Sylvia (January 26, 2006). "Life after Gwen". SFGate . Hearst Communications . Retrieved 2015-06-02 . Ã,
- Hemmelgarn, Seth; Laird, Cynthia (October 4, 2012). "Ten years later, the murder of Araujo echoed". Bay Area Reporter . BAR, Inc . Retrieved 2015-06-02 .
- HernÃÆ'¡ndez, Daisy (October 18, 2014). " ' He wants to be normal We both do': Why gender, sexuality, and desire are important '. Salon Media Salon Group . Retrieved 2015 -06-02 .
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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