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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Ten police officers were arrested and charged on Wednesday, May 1, for the transphobic murder of Sofía Fernández at a police station in Derqui. Sofía was found dead in a cell at the station in the early morning of April 11, 2023. The officers initially claimed it was a sudden death, and later that she committed suicide.

Since the news broke, Sofia Fernandez's family has sought to have the case investigated as a crime. Until now, it had been classified as a "suspicious death."

The arrests of the police officers took place yesterday at 7 a.m. The detainees were transferred out of the Pilar district, Buenos Aires province.

What are the police officers accused of ?

Five of the police officers arrested yesterday were charged with "aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity, by the premeditated participation of two or more people, and by being perpetrated by members of the police force," confirmed Ignacio Fernández Camillo, the lawyer for Sofía's family, Agencia Presentes

The other five were arrested and prosecuted for the crime of aggravated concealment. “This is a particularly serious precedent, especially because it was perpetrated by members of the police force and involved the falsification of a public document,” he explained.

For homicide, the following officers were charged: Assistant Sub-Officer Carlos Rodríguez, Sergeant Yésica Núñez, Sub-Lieutenant Viviana Ruiz, Sergeant Gonzalo Germán Robles, and Assistant Sub-Officer Ezequiel Francisco Ávalos Ibáñez. For obstruction of justice, the following were charged: the head of the police station, Daniel Salerni; the deputy commissioner, Mirian Valor; Sergeant Gabriela Miño; Officer Camila Pitular; and Assistant Officer Gustavo Gabriel Camacho.

Expert reports: with signs of torture

Along with the arrest of the police officers, the forensic report on Sofía's body was released. "She was tortured to death," confirmed Fernández Camillo.

According to the report, “the death was due to the actions of three or more people, acting in unison, by subduing the victim with blows from hard objects.” Blows to the face and jaw trauma were also found, which “ensured the victim's unconsciousness.”

Sofia had marks on all four limbs, suggesting she was restrained forcefully. Traces of apprehension were found in that area.

The expert reports also suggest that there may have been sexual abuse (due to the discovery of cytogenetic material in his body).

I hate gender identity

Analysis of the phones of the police officers who killed and covered up Sofi's murder revealed that the primary motive was hatred of women. This is indicated by the messages they exchanged:

“On top of that, Pitu, I remembered (…) I don’t know if you heard when Ávalos said, ‘you’re a big man, you’ve got balls’ (laughs), what a son of a bitch, how could he say that to him. These faggots report you just like that .” That was just one of the messages found on the officers’ phones, through text and audio messages.

The first irregularity (of many others) noted was that there was no clear reason for the woman's arrest. According to what could be pieced together, Sofía asked that her gender identity be respected at the time of her arrest and requested to be taken to a women's police station. But the officers refused.

The family's legal team highlighted the work of the prosecution team, comprised of prosecutors Manuel Cayuela and Esteban Álvarez, and assistant prosecutor Victoria Santamaría. They also praised the expert report prepared by forensic pathologist Jorge Velich. "This collaborative work with our legal team allowed us to get off to a promising start in the search for the truth," Fernández Camilla emphasized.

The case of Sofia Fernandez

“I hope they pay for what they did,” Mabel Valdéz, Sofía’s sister, told Presentes. The family received notification of the arrests through their lawyer.

Sofia was 39 years old. She was a language teacher and had enrolled in a nursing program. She was in the process of changing her legal name on her identification document. She was last seen on Friday, April 7th, and was arrested on the 8th by police officers in Derqui.

Officials initially stated she was being held for a background check, and later for theft. Sofia's family insisted on seeing her from the day of her arrest until April 10, but they were denied access. In the early morning of April 11, according to police, she was found dead in her cell.

During 2023, there were 133 LGBT hate crimes, according to a report by the Argentine LGBT Federation. Eleven percent of the cases were perpetrated specifically by members of the security forces "in the exercise of their state function."