Juana Castañeda
Age 3328 Oct 2024
Medellín, Antioquia (Colombia)
Stabbed
Juana was one of two LGBTQ+ people stabbed to death during an argument at a party. She was a well known trans activist in her local area.
The Manrique Central community in Medellín woke up on Tuesday to the news of a double homicide that has shocked the local population. Two people belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community, including a well-known trans activist known as Juana, were found dead inside a home. Both bodies had multiple stab wounds, which has led the authorities to launch an operation to find those responsible for this violent act.
According to preliminary reports, the victims had attended a party in a section of downtown Medellín, and afterward, they decided to continue the celebration at a house in Manrique Central. It was there that, in the midst of the drinks, a fight broke out between the attendees, triggering the attack. A third person, who managed to escape from the house, was the one who notified the authorities, after showing up wounded at a health center. The person said he had witnessed the attack and provided initial information about what happened.
This double homicide has rekindled concerns about the violence faced by the LGBTIQ+ community in the country. Human rights organisations, such as Caribe Afirmativo, have expressed concern about the increase in attacks against people from this community in Colombia. According to their records, so far this year, 40 LGBTIQ+ people have been murdered in the country, of which 22 are trans people, a group that faces particular vulnerability. The organisation has asked the authorities to investigate the case under the hypothesis of a crime motivated by prejudice, given the recurrent documented violence against this population.
During the early hours of Tuesday 31st October Juana's friend María Sorelly Sánchez Arismendy, 61, was stabbed outside her home afer attending Juana's wake. Her killer, who appears to have been waiting for her, fled on a motorcycle with an accomplice.
Before midnight, María Sorelly called a taxi from the funeral home in the center of Medellín to her home. When she arrived at her destination, she was apparently approached by a man who stabbed her and killed her on the spot.
According to witnesses, the killer, who was wearing a green raincoat and a helmet, was waiting to attack her. He then got on a motorcycle driven by his accomplice and fled the scene.
https://www.h13n.com/identidad-2-personas-lgbtiq-asesinada-manrique/285298/
https://x.com/CMILANOTICIA/status/1851360862516433380
