TDoR 2020 / 2020 / March / 15 / Stephanie Cardona Matías


Stephanie Cardona Matías

Age 32

15 Mar 2020
Mixco, Guatemala (Guatemala)
Stabbed

TDoR list ref: tgeu/15-Mar-2020/Stephanie Cardona Matías

Stephanie Cardona Matías
Stephanie Cardona Matías [photo: agenciapresentes.org]

Stephanie's body was found in her home with multiple stab wounds to the neck on Tuesday 17th March. Her murder is thought to have taken place two days earlier.

Stephanie Cardona Matías was 32 years old and was found murdered on Tuesday, March 17, by her companions. When they realized that she had not been seen in recent days, they went to her home accompanied by the National Civil Police. According to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif), Stephanie's death was caused by multiple knife injuries to the neck. Her murder is presumed to have taken place on March 15.

Originally from Guatemala City, she lived in the Mixco area, 17 kilometers from the city and was a sex worker in a bar located at calle 7 and avenida 6 in zona 4 of the capital. Sometimes she stayed to sleep there because she had to do double shifts to survive. According to sources close to her, she had received death threats on the Friday prior to her transfemicide.

"She was a very polite person, smiling, kind, loving, joking, never angry." This is how her sister Ingrid remembered her, in dialogue with Presentes. Their mother passed away when they were little. Her brother went to the United States. According to Ingrid, Stephanie was never loved by her father. Since she was little, she sent her to live with her maternal grandmother and when she learned of her transition, she rejected her even more. Stephanie lived with her grandmothers or with her aunt. At 18, when she began her transition, she was forced to leave her family's home, as happens to so many trans [people] in Latin America.

Even in the midst of this health crisis, violence against us doesn't stop. We regret to report the vile murder of Stephanie Cardona Matías, Trans* Woman of 31 years old, stabbed to death this Sunday March 15, 2020.

We offer our solidarity with the family and friends who are today missing and mourning her their death which was so unfair, so unnecessary, so nonsensical.

We take this moment to offer our thanks to San José Hospice, who again, as in so many cases before, were able to provide a coffin to bury Stephanie.

¨No We can't stop time and its march. Our lives are perhaps a breath, but that humble breath of life, beautifies the whole universe for a whole moment¨

https://agenciapresentes.org/2020/03/23/asesinan-a-trans-de-32-anos-en-plena-crisis-de-salud-la-violencia-en-nuestra-contra-no-se-detiene/

https://www.cristianosgays.com/tags/stephanie-cardona-matias/

https://twitter.com/InfoOTRANS/status/1240468307393863681

https://www.facebook.com/reinasdelanoche1/posts/2684251538562956

Report added: 11 Sep 2020. Last updated: 13 Jan 2021

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This site contains reports of violence against transgender people, and links to detailed reports which contain graphic imagery.

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