A transgender person was murdered in Pedro Juan Caballero

Soledad Fernández, 42, was murdered on Monday, October 7, with nine gunshot wounds.

October 15, 2019

By Juliana Quintana

Soledad Fernández, 42, was murdered on the night of Monday, October 7, behind Villa del Sol, a gated community on the road to the town of Zanja Pyta, near Pedro Juan Caballero (Amambay). Soledad, a trans woman who toward the end of her life asked to be called Marcelino Soler again, was with Leonardo Miranda De Oliveira when a hooded cis man began following them. According to Miranda's later statements, the man told them it was a robbery but immediately shot Soledad.

The nine .22 caliber revolver shots remained inside the body. According to information obtained by Presentes, the prosecutor's office transferred the body to the morgue at the regional hospital in Pedro Juan Caballero. The forensic doctor confirmed that the wounds were located in the chest, neck, mouth, left rib area, and back.

The prosecutor in charge of the case, Sandra Díaz , explained to Presentes that the homicide was committed by a man, still unidentified, approximately 20 years old. “I assume that he first shot him while he was standing, and then, as he fell, he received more shots because he has wounds in his mouth and neck. The type of weapon was confirmed because the bullets that remained in the body were extracted. They found one in the head and three in the body,” she stated.

Around 10 p.m., neighbors heard several gunshots and saw a man fleeing on foot from the scene where the body was found. Police officers from the second precinct of the Villa Industrial neighborhood arrived and notified the Public Prosecutor's Office and the forensic examiner. On Friday, Leonardo Miranda gave a police statement providing more information about the attacker.

“Leonardo said he ran in fright when the man fired. A neighbor, a former police officer, heard what happened and called the police. According to the witness, earlier that day they had met with Marcelino around 7:00 p.m. and gone for a walk in the Villa Industrial neighborhood. That's when the man appeared and murdered Soledad. I imagine he was trying to kill Marcelino. The family will give us more information during the week,” said Laura Panderi, assistant prosecutor.

"Intentional homicide"

The prosecutor classified the case as intentional homicide and stated that it is not yet possible to call it a hate crime, adding that the motive for the murder is still unknown. Panambí activist Yren Rotela affirmed that she was very well-loved by the citizens of Pedro Juan.

“I met Soledad in 2009 because she was a leader in Panambi in Pedro Juan Caballero at the time. That year, I was working with the community there. She was also a health promoter; I know she went through a lot,” Yren said, adding that since becoming involved in evangelism, her perspective on the LGBTQ+ community began to change. At church, they used to tell her that because she was transgender, “she lived the way she did.”

“I understand that when you cling to life, you're looking for some way to survive. Often, when you live in a certain context, as a trans woman, you don't have job opportunities, you don't have an education, and you have to endure a lot of violence and discrimination. Many doors are closed to you. She fell into a depression and sought refuge in spirituality. Which I think is great, but that made her revert to her socially compromised male identity,” Yren recalls.

Just a week ago, Yren Rotela and Mariana Sepúlveda celebrated the ruling by the Luque Court of Justice in the transfemicide case of their friend, Romina Vargas. The conviction of Blas Amarilla for Romina's murder marked a milestone in Paraguayan justice, as it was the first conviction for the murder of a trans person in Paraguay.

“With Romina’s case, we worked for a year to ensure the prosecutor understood the full context in which we live. Many of my colleagues may be committing crimes, but why? Because we fall into a situation of criminalization. Obviously, I don’t justify it, but a robbery cannot be a reason for murder,” the activist stated.

“I met Soledad when we worked on the streets. She was my colleague. Then I left my work area because I started studying Law. I feel very helpless about what happened to her because, unfortunately, in Paraguay there is no law that protects us,” lamented her colleague Nicol González Gauto.

The law against all forms of discrimination remains an outstanding debt in the country. If the hate crime is verified, it would be the 62nd transfemicide in the democratic transition.

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