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By Alexis Oliva, from Córdoba

Just days before the one-year anniversary of the brutal murder of Azul Montoro, a 23-year-old trans woman, a crime that seemed destined to go unpunished, the latest psychiatric evaluation overturned an initial ruling that had deemed the sole accused not criminally responsible. This crucial step allows the case to proceed to trial, as prosecutor Guillermo González told Presentes .

Azul Montoro was murdered with 18 stab wounds in a boarding house near the Mercado Norte in Córdoba, where—like so many other trans women excluded from the job market—she worked as a prostitute to make a living. Early that morning of October 18, 2017, hours later, the only suspect to date, Jorge Alejandro Casiva, the same age as the victim, was arrested. A forensic examination has just declared him aware of his actions and therefore responsible before the law.

[READ MORE: #Cordoba Hate crime against a young trans woman: “She was brutally and treacherously murdered”]

The assailant also killed the dog of a friend of Azul's who rented the room and was away on a trip. The accused had a history of domestic violence against his mother and sister, cases in which he had been declared not criminally responsible. With a similar psychiatric diagnosis, he was also not going to be tried for the murder of the young trans woman.

He was nearly released, but the prosecution and the victim's family—acting as a private prosecutor—objected and requested a second evaluation. With this new expert assessment, the murder of Azul Montoro may have a different outcome than the still unpunished transphobic murders of Vanessa Ledesma, who died from torture in a Córdoba police station on February 16, 2000, and Laura Moyano, who was beaten to death in Villa Allende Parque on July 25, 2015.

[3 years since the transfemicide of Laura Moyano: family and friends marched in her neighborhood]

“We were not satisfied with that initial expert report, and with the complaint we requested a new, more in-depth and complex expert review, which concluded that the accused, Jorge Casiva, understands what he is doing. Therefore, he is criminally responsible ,” explains prosecutor González.

[READ MORE: #Argentina: LGBT Observatory reported a hate crime every three days]«]

For the prosecution, it is femicide.

During the investigation, Casiva's actions came to light that support the prosecution's hypothesis: “According to testimonies from other girls, the accused rode his motorcycle around the North Market area asking about prices. Hours later, he hid the motorcycle, had his clothes washed, told a relative, 'I'm going to pretend to be crazy,' and was later seen in the vicinity of the Provincial Neuropsychiatric Hospital.” “Why would someone who doesn't understand the gravity of what he's done try to hide his actions?” the prosecutor reasoned.

From now on, the accused will be transferred from the Aurelio Crespo Hospital in the city of Cruz del Eje, where he was hospitalized, to the Bouwer prison, near the city of Córdoba.

The prosecutor is preparing to bring the case to trial before Control Court No. 8, charging it as femicide. Thus, the murder of Azul, a trans woman, could become the first case in Córdoba's criminal history in which the femicide charge is applied to a trans victim. With the defense likely to appeal, the investigation is expected to proceed to a jury trial by mid-2019.

[READ MORE: #DianaSacayán “The violent death of a trans woman is a transvesticide,” said the prosecutor’s office]

“The perpetrator is not in dispute. What will likely be a point of contention is the classification of femicide, of aggravated homicide with gender-based violence, which I will continue to maintain. The Civil Code recognizes that Azul was a woman, and that is stated on her ID. I believe that the victim's diverse sexual identity played a role in the motivation for killing her ,” the judicial official stated.

[READ MORE: Diana Sacayán: a day of justice and transvestite fury in court]

“Azul is greatly missed”

Azul was murdered in the room of her best friend, Lara Godoy, who was in her hometown of San Juan at the time. Azul was from Villa Mercedes, San Luis, where her mother, father, and siblings live, and where she is now buried. The two friends had much in common: they had the opportunity to study and got along well with their families, but they had to migrate to Córdoba in search of work. Both had supported the initiative for a trans employment quota, hoping to one day leave the streets.

For Lara, this turn in the legal case generates conflicting feelings: “On the one hand, it’s good to know that justice is being served and this isn’t going to be swept under the rug. On the other hand, I think that nothing will be able to erase the tremendous damage she has done to us, to her family, and to the friends who loved her so much. Azul and I were like family, and we miss her terribly.”

After her friend's murder in the so-called "red-light district" of the North Market, something changed. "Now we have a little more security; there's a WhatsApp group. The street is still dangerous, but we're a bit more protected," she says. "I'm incredibly grateful to all the civil organizations that support our struggle and that of our family."