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By Penelope Moro

Melody Barrera was murdered in Mendoza in the early hours of Saturday, August 29. After almost 20 days of secrecy in the investigation, the alleged transvestite murderer was found yesterday : Darío Jesús Cháves Rubio, a 31-year-old police officer who works in Police Station No. 34 in Godoy Cruz, a department in the metropolitan area of ​​the province.

The 27-year-old trans woman was found dead around 4 a.m. on August 29 in one of the "red-light districts" of Guaymallén, on the border with the capital city. When the team from Prosecutor's Office No. 8 of Guaymallén, led by Andrea Lazo, arrived at the scene, they found Melody's still-fresh body, with six gunshot wounds to the chest and a handful of shell casings scattered around her.

Presentes spoke with Viviana Beigel, who represents Melody's family and provided further details beyond those recently released by the Homicide Prosecutor's Office. According to the lawyer, who recently joined the case thanks to the intervention of the social organization Clik, the prosecutor's confidentiality regarding the information was "key to finding the killer."

Darío Jesús Cháves was arrested and sent to the Boulogne Sur Mer prison after refusing to give a statement. He currently has a public defender and an administrative file has been opened against him at the General Security Inspectorate (IGS), which has also requested his inactive status. It has not yet been determined whether the police officer was on duty at the time of the crime and whether the murder weapon, a 9mm caliber pistol, was the one he used while on duty.

According to information provided by Prosecutor Lazo, the arrest stems from the seizure of video footage by the Homicide Division of the Mendoza Police, the statement of a witness and geo-referenced calls generated in the area , plus reports of technological crimes that place Cháves Rubio as "the main suspect in the transvesticide".

Viviana Beigel, now in contact with Melody's family, says that her mother and two older sisters are still reeling from the shock and that their days are filled with anguish. "It was difficult for them to begin the legal process, but they are now on their way and certain of what they want, despite the pain and the state of shock from which they have not yet recovered."

He also explained that the Prosecutor's Office primarily investigated using security cameras located in the areas surrounding where Melody's body was found. “It was a very complex process in terms of the technical and computer investigation because the crime was committed in complete darkness. The Homicide Prosecutor's Office even had to acquire new technological tools to identify the shooter.”

Confidential witness

In this regard, the work of the Homicide Division of the Mendoza Police, the Support Unit for Fiscal Investigation of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Technological Crimes Division stands out.

Furthermore, the testimony of a confidential witness ultimately shed the necessary light to identify Melody's killer. According to this person's statements, it can be inferred that the perpetrator had previously had some contact or connection with the young woman.

That night of August 29, Melody was loitering along the waterfront that separates Capital from Guaymallén. The girl was located on Correa Saá street, that is, in the eastern area, when from a Volkswagen Bora, as seen in the footage, around 3:50 a.m. she received shots that ended her life immediately.

The witness told prosecutor Lazo that hours earlier he had run into Darío Jesús Cháves Rubio, who told him about a previous argument in which the police officer allegedly said he was going to "get a gun and shoot the transvestite." This witness provided details about the officer's physical characteristics and also described the vehicle that appears in the videos.

Judge Lazo ordered a raid on the premises of Police Station No. 34, where Chávez Rubio works, and there they found the Volkswagen Bora that appears in the footage, but without license plates. It is the personal car of the accused, who was arrested at the police station itself, located in the heart of the upscale Barrio Bancario neighborhood of Godoy Cruz.

"Homicide aggravated by hatred of gender expression"

The charge against Darío Jesús Cháves Rubio is “aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender expression, in conjunction with simple homicide aggravated by the use of a firearm, plus violation of mandatory social distancing measures.” If it is established that he was on duty when he killed Melody, the charges could be further aggravated. The police officer faces the maximum sentence.  

For the trans community, it is a great step forward that the crime against their companion is classified as "transvesticide" because they believe that "for the first time in Mendoza, our deaths are being named."

In this regard, Clik stated, “Melody’s transvesticide must serve to highlight the conditions in which transvestites and trans people continue to live in the country today, in 2020. We speak of transvesticide because she was killed for her identity, because when someone decides to live as they feel, it generates hatred in a minority sector that is violent, intolerant, and murderous, and that hatred ends up being directed at our bodies. But we also speak of social transvesticide, because of a society that throws transvestites and trans people into the prostitution circuit when they are minors, that doesn’t care about problematic substance use, nighttime violence, or sexual exploitation.”

Beigel explained to Presentes that there are no special protocols for this type of investigation labeled as "transvesticides", but that the lawsuit will incorporate into the legal grounds background information and investigations, bibliographic material related to Article 80, Section 4 of the Penal Code to enrich the gender perspective both in the investigation and in the sentence that falls on the transvesticide Cháves Rubio.

Another important detail added by the plaintiff's lawyer is that if the police officer Darío Jesús Cháves Rubio reaches the dock, he will be subjected to a jury trial.

“This event is socially significant, both for those serving on the jury and for their families. Community participation in a case that transcends the courts, viewed from a gender perspective by the public, is fundamental to preventing these stories from continuing to occur,” she stated.

The prosecutor has ordered further measures and raids, and more details of the case are expected in the coming days. This opens a landmark case in Mendoza for the trans community, with high hopes of becoming a judicial and social paradigm for the entire country.