Zoe Quispe: life imprisonment for the accused without acknowledging transfemicide

The Criminal Court No. 2 of Jujuy sentenced the murderer of Zoe Quispe to life imprisonment but ignored the request to classify it as transfemicide.

June 13, 2019

Elena Corvalán, from Salta

The Criminal Court No. 2 of Jujuy sentenced Jesús Pantaleón “Lucas” Moreno to life imprisonment for the crime of “ aggravated homicide due to a relationship ” in the death of Zoe Nazarena Quispe, a trans woman with whom he lived in the city of Palpalá, nearly 15 kilometers from the provincial capital. The unanimous ruling by Judge Cecilia Zadir and Judges Luis Kamada and Antonio Llermanos for the crime—committed on September 10, 2016— did not accept the prosecution's request to apply the aggravating circumstance of transfemicide, given the precedents set by the sentencing for the transphobic murder of Diana Sacayán in Buenos Aires and the classification of the transfemicide of Marcela Chocobar in Río Gallegos (the sentence for which was announced today). The sentence for Zoe's murder was announced on Wednesday, June 12.

[Marcela Chocobar trial: life sentence for transfemicide for one of the accused]]

“We are more at ease, because in a way justice was served,” Patricia García, Zoe Quispe’s sister-in-law, told Presentes. She added, however, that they were “a little hurt” because Moreno’s defense, led by lawyer Rogelio Llanes, “tried to discredit the testimony of two of the trans women,” Lourdes Ibarra and Romina Paz. Also during the closing arguments, presented that same Wednesday, he insisted that the crime was committed in an “excessive use of force in self-defense,” masculinizing the victim.

“It was very hard to hear all that… it seemed like the defense was judging Zoe the whole time,” especially for the victim’s mother, Antonia Mamaní, who was present throughout the day until the verdict was announced, García recounted. She added that she is now “a little calmer, although nothing will bring her daughter back.”

García emphasized that the presiding judge admonished the defense attorney, even pointing out that “Zoe is not on trial .” The prosecution also urged the attorney not to make discriminatory remarks regarding the victim's gender identity .

"It was a transfemicide"

“We will continue to maintain that this was a transfemicide. It has been proven that Zoe Nazarena Quispe suffered gender-based violence while in a relationship with Moreno Pantaleón, known as 'Lucas',” stated lawyer Romina Cortés, from the Gender Equality Secretariat of the province of Jujuy, to local media. She represented the victim's mother as the plaintiff in the case.

Cortés lamented that the court had not ruled on the request to apply the legal definition of transfemicide. “The relevant considerations were made so that the court would take into account the laws in force to date regarding gender identity.”

Lourdes Ibarra, a trans activist with the Damas de Hierro collective—an organization Zoe Quispe was also a member of—stated that, even so, the sentence met the group's expectations. “We wanted a life sentence regardless of the charge, although we requested the charge of transfemicide because we believed it applied. All the testimonies at the trial showed that it was a case of jealousy. Zoe, in addition to being a trans woman, was a woman like any other, so the charge of aggravated homicide with cruelty was justified,” she told Presentes. She added, “We are at peace knowing that we achieved justice for our comrade. It is a political message to know that a person's life was taken in a context of gender-based violence.”

Prosecutor Alejandro Maldonado also stated that the debate proved that the couple's relationship "was tainted by this violence on the part of Moreno towards Zoe Quispe."

On the same Wednesday as the sentencing, Romina Paz testified. She had been with the couple moments before the crime was committed. The witness recounted seeing them together outside the nightclub. “He was like a madman,” she recalled. She said that right there, Moreno hit Zoe and then “kicked her while still hitting her.” They walked the five blocks to the victim's parents' house, where the couple lived, and once there, “he forced her inside.” Before hearing the sentence that condemned him to life imprisonment, Moreno apologized to the court, to God, and to Zoe Quispe's family.

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