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The transphobic murder of Alejandra “La Power” Benítez , a 34-year-old trans woman, in Tucumán, has gone unpunished. This was the decision of the court composed of Judge María Balcazar, Judge Rafael Marorito, and Judge Isabel Menéndez. In a unanimous ruling, they acquitted the only person charged in the case: Ricardo Puenzo.

Power was shot in the back and killed on November 5 of last year at the door of the place where she lived - a few blocks from the center of Tucumán.

In a summary of the grounds – which will be made public in full on June 16 – the judges indicated that the evidence provided by prosecutor Carlos Sale and the representatives of the victims was not enough to determine Puenzo's responsibility in the events.

“I completely disagree with the sentence because I think the Court made a mistake in its assessment of the evidence and I do not agree with its assessment of the investigation,” Carlos Garmendia, the lawyer representing the Benítez family, told Presentes.

The judges deemed the prosecution's investigation deficient. “ The specific and concrete fact of who fired the shots, in my opinion, is more than proven. There is no possibility of another hypothesis nor any reason to pursue another line of investigation because they are ruled out from the beginning. In any case, I do not doubt the honor of the three judges, but I do believe they have erred,” Garmendia adds, lamenting the change in the statement of Diego Mercado, the main witness and victim in the case.

Victim and witness investigated for perjury

Diego Mercado is the other victim who suffered four gunshot wounds. In repeated statements during the investigation, he asserted that in the early morning hours of November 6, he was drinking on the sidewalk in front of Alejandra's home when the accused arrived on a motorcycle. He indicated that he witnessed an argument between 'La Power' and Puenzo and saw the latter pull a firearm from his clothing and fire the shots.

“He said that he then turned around and tried to run towards the gate to ask for help, but Puenzo shot him too. He said that he was left lying on the ground as if dead, and that's why the killer escaped. He said that God didn't want to take him so that he could do justice for my sister, but he arrived at the trial and lied blatantly,” says Verónica Benítez, Alejandra's sister.

On the first day of the hearing, Mercado testified as both a witness and a victim, and her testimony contradicted everything she had previously stated. She asserted that she hadn't seen the accused fire the gun, that she only saw the muzzle flashes because her back was turned, and she questioned whether anyone else was present. “He sold out for next to nothing. If things had been the other way around, my sister wouldn't have stopped until she got justice because everyone knows she was a wonderful person, supportive and a fighter,” Verónica told this publication.

 “While we have the problem that the other victim is lying to favor the accused, it is so obvious that he lied that the Court itself asked that he be investigated for perjury,” says Garmendia, adding: “There is an inconsistency on the part of the Court that, despite realizing that Mercado has lied, it gives credence to the lie and suggests the possibility of a fourth person at the time of the events, and with that justifies the benefit of the doubt.”

“The investigation was not deficient”

 “It wasn't appropriate to investigate other leads, as the Court maintained in its ruling, if I had a survivor who identified Puenzo as the shooter, describing his height, personal characteristics, even the ear extender he wears,” Public Prosecutor Carlos Sale told Presentes. “Furthermore, we seized a veritable arsenal from Puenzo's mother's house, and while we didn't find the 9mm pistol that matches the bullets recovered, we did find the holster for that missing weapon,” the lawyer stated, listing other evidence presented during the trial. “There is a whole body of evidence pointing to a single person: Ricardo Puenzo. There were three people involved, and that hasn't been disputed. Of those three, two were victims—one deceased and one wounded—and one escaped unharmed. That unharmed person never testified at the trial, never attempted to defend themselves, nor did they try to say where they were, what they had done, or what happened. Moreover, they were a fugitive for six days.”

Both the lawyer representing the Benítez family and the prosecutor will await the written justification for appealing the ruling. “What’s striking is not only the change in the other victim’s testimony but also the attitude of her lawyer, because in his closing argument he asked that his client’s killer not be tried for transfemicide but for simple homicide. I’ve never seen that before. I believe the prosecution’s case is sound, the investigation wasn’t deficient, and the sentence was inappropriate, so we’ll wait for the written justification to understand why they have so many doubts,” Sales concludes.

Red Bank and increased police presence to compensate for impunity

In the summary of the grounds for her decision, Judge María Balcazar stated that the Court addressed the case with a gender perspective and urged the municipal and provincial governments to work towards the inclusion of transgender people. She also ordered that a red bench—a memorial to victims of femicide and transfemicide—be placed in the plaza across from where Alejandra was murdered and that police presence be reinforced in the area. It should be noted that transgender women who engage in sex work live and work there. “A red bench won't bring my sister back to me. I came here seeking justice, and they give me a red bench and a murderer walking free,” lamented Verónica Benítez.

For his part, Carlos Garmendia states that he does not doubt the honor of the three judges, but he does believe they made a mistake. “I think it’s important for the judiciary to make an effort to adopt a gender perspective, particularly regarding the trans population, but that effort wasn’t enough to properly assess the evidence from that perspective.”

On Friday the 11th, at 10 a.m., family members, activists and friends of Alejandra Benítez will gather at the entrance of the Criminal Courts of the province to express their disagreement with the ruling and to highlight what they define as an act of impunity.