Karen ("Mariana")
22 Sep 2025
Popayán, Cauca (Colombia)
Shot
Karen was a stylist. She died in a medical centre after being hit by a stray bullet during a firefight between a police patrol and a fugitive.
September 22, 2025. In the early hours of September 22, 2025, a new act of violence erupted, saddening Colombia's diverse population. Karen, known by the community as "Mariana" or "La Jassan," a trans woman, was murdered in the La Esmeralda neighborhood of Popayán, amid a firefight during a police operation.
According to the facts, the victim was not involved in the confrontation, but was caught in the middle of it, being shot by National Police officers who, according to witnesses, failed to apply the civil protection protocols that should govern these procedures.
This case becomes the 55th recorded by the Caribe Afirmativo Human Rights Observatory in 2025, and the second this year in which a trans person has died as a result of violent actions carried out by law enforcement officers. This highlights the serious risk faced by people with trans life experience in contexts of institutional violence.
Karen's memory demands justice and respect. Colombian society cannot remain indifferent to the systematic violence faced by trans people, who daily demand dignity, recognition, and full citizenship guarantees.
Karen was well known in her community and a candlelight vigil was held for her shortly after her death.
Despite the cold night in Payanes, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and loved ones of La Hassan, or Karen, the trans woman who died after being caught in the crossfire, gathered to pay tribute to her at the site of the tragedy: the El Cadillal neighborhood.
She deserved it, for that gigantic heart she had and the powerful joy she radiated every time she walked the streets of this sector of the capital of Cauca, and as her friends and confidants clearly confirmed, they do not accept that a gunshot, apparently fired by a police officer, ended her life in the early hours of Monday, September 22.
Those who attended this event urged the Prosecutor's Office to expedite the investigation and impose exemplary punishment on the person responsible for this violent act. “Karen was a very special person to Carlos and I, especially in the last month, when we were very attentive to her, giving her a lot of love and receiving the same from her, so now facing her departure is something that hits us very hard. I shared a lot of time with this wonderful person. I met her more than twenty years ago, when she became my stylist at a hair salon in the Santa Clara neighborhood,” said Carol Chacón, who participated in this candlelight vigil.
