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The judges of the Criminal Court of Río Gallegos unanimously sentenced Oscar Biott to life imprisonment for the aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity (transfemicide). Biott, along with Angel Azzolini, was accused of murdering Marcela Chocobar, a young trans woman. Azzolini was sentenced to six years in prison for aggravated concealment of the crime. The prosecution and the plaintiff had requested that he be considered an "accessory." The 26-year-old trans woman was last seen in September 2015, and to this day her body has not been found; only her skull has been recovered.

When the sentence was read, Marcela's sisters, the plaintiffs and tireless activists for justice, burst into tears. This is the first time the province of Santa Cruz has issued a court ruling with the aggravating circumstance of "hatred based on gender identity," and the sentence includes the plaintiffs' request to create a specialized gender-based violence prosecutor's office.

[READ ALSO: Marcela Chocobar trial: anticipation for the transfemicide verdict]

"Justice wasn't served," was heard as Gabriela Chocobar signed the read sentence. "I'm not very happy with this sentence because we were hoping Azzolini would get about 15 years. There was testimony that said he participated in my sister's dismemberment," Gabriela Chocobar told local media.

“On the one hand, there is satisfaction with the life sentence for hate crimes based on gender identity. In that sense, it is an exemplary ruling that sets a precedent at the provincial and national levels for these crimes to be judged as they are: hate crimes. Regarding Azzolini's case, the sentence will be appealed because six years is a very short sentence, and the family is very dissatisfied. The prosecution's action is a step forward, but here, if the way investigations are conducted and judges are appointed doesn't change, it's more about marketing than anything else,” Romina McNamara, a lawyer and member of the Río Gallegos Women's Roundtable, who has been supporting the Chocobar family from the beginning, told Presentes.

[READ ALSO: Chocobar trial: forensic expert confirmed that the young trans woman was dismembered]

"We hope that the specialized gender prosecutor's office doesn't just remain on paper. We know what it was like to fight to have a gender perspective incorporated into the investigation. It was very difficult. And that's what led to Oscar Biott being tried as my sister's murderer," Judith Chocobar told the media.

At the second hearing, a “repentant” witness testified that the defendants Azzolini and Biott had dismembered the young woman. At the fourth hearing, the forensic expert confirmed this, stating that “a professional” had skinned and dismembered her.

The final moments 

On September 6, 2015, at 6:30 a.m., security cameras recorded Marcela getting into a red Renault 9. When Marcela didn't return, her sisters filed a missing person report, but it took them 48 hours to file a formal complaint. Eight days later, on the morning of Monday, September 14, 2015, skeletal remains and other evidence indicating that Marcela was dead were found. Fifteen days passed before the forensic laboratory confirmed on September 29 that the remains belonged to the young woman. That same day, three men were arrested while driving a car matching the description of the one recorded by the cameras.

[READ ALSO: Three years after the transvesticide of Marcela Chocobar: threats and impunity denounced]

From that moment on, her family and activists from feminist groups in Río Gallegos began to mobilize throughout the city demanding justice. At first, the neighbors looked at them with suspicion, but then they echoed the demands: the crime challenged the entire city.