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*NEWS UPDATED March 12, 13:54*

The Guarantee Judge of Cañuelas, Martín Rizzo, decided to bring to trial the case for aggravated homicide due to hatred of sexual orientation and gender identity against Tehuel De la Torre , on the one-year anniversary of the 21-year-old trans man being last seen.

The two defendants are Luis Alberto Ramos and Oscar Alfredo Montes, both of whom have been arrested and charged. They will be tried for the murder of Tehuel (Article 80 of the Penal Code) with the aggravating circumstance of hatred based on gender identity. In other words, it will be tried as a hate crime ( section 4) .

The court also accepted the splitting of the case, in order to continue the search for the missing transgender youth. Yesterday, the parties involved were notified, including prosecutor Karina Guyot, who is in charge of the investigation and will continue to lead the search.

In the same resolution, the Departmental Court of Guarantees No. 8 rejected the motion for dismissal requested by the defense of Oscar Alfredo Montes and will also not grant the change of classification requested by the defense of the same defendant.

Thus begins the preparation stage of the trial against the defendants Luis Alberto Ramos and Oscar Alfredo Montes for the crime of "Aggravated homicide due to hatred of sexual orientation and gender identity (trans hate)" in the terms of art. 80 inc. 4° of the Penal Code.

What has been tested so far

According to the evidence gathered in the investigation, the Prosecutor's Office concluded that "in the period approximately between 9:00 p.m. on March 11, 2021 and 4:33 a.m. on March 12 of the same year, inside the home located at 1203 Mansilla Street in the town of Alejandro Korn, in the district of San Vicente, two adult males, identified in the case file as Luis Alberto Ramos and Oscar Alfredo Montes, intentionally caused the death of Tehuel De La Torre—who identified as male—motivated by hatred of his gender identity and sexual orientation, using methods not yet determined, given that the defendants managed to conceal his mortal remains until this day…".

The court document states that the fact that Tehuel's body was not found is not an impediment to proceeding with the trial of Ramos and Montes for aggravated homicide "in light of the rest of the collected evidence that constitutes sufficient grounds for suspicion and vehement indications of both the commission of the act and their responsibility in it."

Furthermore, special mention is made of the incorporation of the aggravating circumstance of hate crime due to gender identity, and it is noted: “I must once again point out that, conceiving the murder investigated here in this way, allows for a deeper understanding of its causes and scope, including the component mentioned (socio/cultural) that emphasizes the idea that the manifestations of violence towards the population that the victim belonged to are intertwined in relationships of power asymmetry and in hate speech, in a sexist and dominating discourse.”

After reaffirming the separation of the case to continue the search for Tehuel de la Torre, the judge ruled against the requests for dismissal and for a change in the charges—due to simple perjury—made by any of the defendants. “While the initial evidence pointed in that direction, the analysis conducted leads to the conclusion that the acts for which the prosecution maintains its accusation must be referred to the oral trial stage under the aggravated charge of homicide,” he stated in the court document.

The contradictions of the accused

Judge Rizzo lists in his reasoning the contradictions in the statements of the detainees.

-Ramos denied having any communications after March 11 with Montes (the other defendant); while the Telefónica report on the records of incoming and outgoing calls on his phone indicates that he called him on March 11, 2021 at 13:56:43 hs, the following day at 14:09:17 hs and on March 13, 2021 at 17:49:20 hs.

-In the recordings from the San Vicente Monitoring Center as well as the report from the Link network, other data emerged that contradicted those referred to by the accused Ramos, which are added to the telephone report from which it is clear that there may have been an exchange of communications between the accused and Tehuel De La Torre on Thursday, March 11 of this year between 7:28 p.m. and 7:34 p.m., contrary to what was declared.

Montes initially claimed that he did not know and had never seen Tehuel De La Torre, but that he did know "Luigi" (Luis Ramos), who turned out to be a neighbor. He also stated that the last time he saw "Luigi" was on Thursday, March 10, 2021, at his house at noon, where they shared some beers. However, according to the forensic analysis of Ramos's cell phone, 28 photographs were created on March 11 of this year. In the photograph taken at 8:42 p.m., both defendants can be seen with Tehuel de la Torre, presumably at what was later determined to be Montes's residence.

-On the same cell phone –according to the preliminary report of the UAID– there is a timeline with the multimedia files, all of them from March 11, 2021, from which emerges in addition to the aforementioned photo, others as well as filmings that show the meeting of Montes and Ramos both in the home of one or the other, which had been deleted from said device .

More evidence incriminating the accused

The evidence presented in the indictment clearly shows that Tehuel left his house, took the bus, and arrived in Alejandro Korn. This is confirmed by information from his SUBE card and by the partial report and expert analysis, which shows the geolocation of his cell phone approximately 70 meters from the home of Luis Alberto Ramos, where his last connection was registered at 00:24 on March 12, 2021. Furthermore, during one of the raids, pieces of Tehuel's cell phone were found and identified by their IMEI numbers.

bloodstains were found . Forensic analysis comparing the sample to one from Tehuel's biological brother concluded that they matched.

The last piece of evidence presented is the discovery of a burnt piece of fabric . It was found to be similar to the jacket worn by the young trans man. Furthermore, while the use of any petroleum-based fuel was not confirmed, it was established that the fabric was burned at the scene .

Hatred towards gender identity and context

In his arguments for bringing the case to trial, Rizzo repeatedly emphasizes the violations suffered by gender minorities and reaffirms the aggravating circumstance of a hate crime based on gender identity. He also contextualizes Tehuel's situation at the time of the crime.

“Indeed, situations were considered that have to do with the life project and access to rights of this population , of which I insist Tehuel was included, as well as the situation of historical, social, cultural and structural discrimination in which in many cases the people who make up these minorities are immersed, which are in many cases the breeding ground for the situations of violence they experience and which, as I will conclude, solidified the bases of his death due to the hatred of the accused,” it states in a part of the document.

March for the anniversary of the search

On the first anniversary of the search, numerous demonstrations and gatherings took place yesterday in many cities across the country. The largest turnout occurred between San Vicente and Alejandro Korn, with family members, friends, and other volunteers. 

The activities at that location began with a presentation by the women's collective "Mosaico Urgente," who commemorated the anniversary with a mosaic installed at the San Vicente Cultural Center, better known as the Old Station Fairgrounds, located at 1100 Sarmiento Avenue in San Vicente. The mosaic measures one meter high by 50 centimeters wide and was made with tiles and cold-set ceramics by a total of 10 artisans.

At 5 p.m., the march began in Alejandro Korn, led by Tehuel's family, from the intersection of Route 210 to the Civic Center. Greta Pena, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity, even participated in the march.