Ana Karen Velasco Castelán
Age 2511 Apr 2020
Veracruz (Mexico)
Beaten and shot
TDoR list ref: tgeu/11-Apr-2020/Ana Karen Velasco Castelán and tgeu/11-Apr-2020/Name Unknown
Ana's body was found lying face down in the street after local residents reported hearing a gunshot.
Ana Karen was found dead at 4:00 in the morning between Sánchez Tagle and Ignacio Allende, in the central area of the port of Veracruz. Her body had gunshot wounds and showed evidence of blows.
Her case - according to the activist - presents four aggravating factors that are limited to a hate crime. Among them: that in addition to being shot and beaten, she was stripped of a wig that she used to give volume to her hair (natural length).
"Apparently they already kicked her, they show her by the ribs - according to what they tell us - blows," adds Bustamante Morales.
Ana Karen was originally from Tabasco, but she lived in the municipality of Boca del Río. And although she was legally a trans woman, after her death, her rights continued to be violated in the Forensic Medical Service. Upon entering it, they recorded her as a man dressed as a woman.
But the revictimization was not only suffered by Ana Karen, but also by her family. Her partner, with whom she had lived for more than five years, was not allowed to recognize her body or remove it to bury her.
The Lgbtti community requested that the murder of young transsexual Ana Karen Velasco Castelán not go unpunished and article 144 of the Penal Code of Veracruz be applied with the aggravating causes of the young woman's crime. Her body was found in Sanchez Tagle and Allende Avenue, as reported by media dedicated to the police source. With this devious crime against Ana Karen Velasco Castelán there have been up to 10 murders in which the victims are people of the Lgbtti community.
her brother Arturo had this to say about her in an interview in November 2020:
"I considered her a sister, not by blood, but by choice, since our relationship was one of [siblings]. I never had that relationship with my primary family, but with Karen I did and she will always be my sister. Her partner, some friends and I lived together and there was a very relaxed atmosphere. She was a very practical problem solver and was my advisor. He said “you have to smile and always keep going”".
Most of their birth family had rejected both Ana and Arturo - in her case because she was trans, and in his case because he was dating a trans woman.
Ana's Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/anakaren.velascocastelan.
https://veracruz.lasillarota.com/estados/10-crimenes-de-odio-que-marcaron-el-2020-en-veracruz/469853
https://www.diarioelmundo.com.mx/index.php/2020/04/13/condenan-crimen-contra-transexual/
https://planettransgender.com/veracruz-trans-woman-ana-karen-velasco-castelan-brutally-murdered/
https://diariolostuxtlas.com/2020/04/13/asesinan-a-balazo-a-trans-en-veracruz/
http://www.notiver.com.mx/index.php/sucesos/563672.html
https://imagendelgolfo.mx/veracruz/durante-2020-suman-ya-10-crimenes-de-odio-en-veracruz/50007862
https://www.vanguardiaveracruz.mx/asesina-a-un-travesti/
https://www.facebook.com/ObservatorioVeracruzano/posts/2596089120671423
