By Victor Hugo Robles. After a legal action brought by the organization TravesChile was rejected, a new criminal complaint was filed against Pablo Andrés Plaza Barra, suspected of the death of Paloma on February 14. At 74 years old, Paloma was the oldest trans woman in Chile, and her companions allege that she was murdered with a blow to the head. The plaintiff will be her son, represented by lawyer Marcela Herrera Luque of the NGO Defensoría Popular (Popular Defense).

[READ ALSO: Chile: Paloma, a historic trans woman, has died: it is alleged that she was murdered]

“The appearance of Paloma’s son makes it possible to investigate the facts and move forward with justice for our community. We hope that other relatives of murdered trans women will become aware and raise their voices to prevent the impunity that prevails in the more than 22 cases of murders of our sisters that have not been investigated by the courts,” TravesChile leader Silvia Parada told Presentes.

[READ ALSO: #HateCrimes2017 Justice, an outstanding debt for LGBT victims in Chile]

The attack

On February 1, 2018, outside the residence located at 6090 Miguel de Cervantes Street in the Quinta Normal district of western Santiago, Paloma was attacked—according to her account before dying—with punches and kicks by Pablo Plaza Barra. The attacker, like Paloma, rented rooms at the same address and had previously had issues with her due to her sexual orientation and gender identity as an elderly transgender person. As a result of the beating, Paloma was left lying on the sidewalk and was taken by ambulance to San Juan de Dios Hospital on February 2. Due to the physical assault and her advanced age, she died after two weeks of agony, with the medical-forensic diagnosis being a "hemorrhagic stroke," but not before she had clearly identified her killer in a recorded interview.

[READ ALSO: Being trans and living in Chile: 10 things you need to know]

In the criminal complaint, lawyer Marcela Herrera states that "the facts described and individualized above constitute the crime of homicide typified and sanctioned in number 2 of article 391, without prejudice to the fact that at the time the existence of some of the qualifying circumstances of the same article in the first with treachery and premeditation may be proven."

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