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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina.

[Updated note. 6/1/25 – 14:20]

The trans woman murdered Sunday night in Quilmes has been identified. She was 22-year-old Micaela Arévalo. The prosecutor's office confirmed her identity through DNA testing, and a memorial service will be held today in the Constitución neighborhood, where she worked: at the corner of Salta and Ciudadela streets.

Police arrested a minor in connection with the crime. Organizations are demanding a state of social emergency be declared due to the violence against the trans and travesti community in the province of Buenos Aires.

The incident occurred on the night of Sunday, December 29, between Guido and Mozart streets in the Villa Luján neighborhood of Quilmes. After a 911 call, officers from the municipal patrol unit arrived at the scene. There they found the victim's body face down. SAME (Emergency Medical Assistance System) personnel confirmed the death and noted a laceration on the left side of the neck.

“Once again, it is transvestites and trans people who have to pay with our lives for the hatred that conservatism sowed, reaped, and installed in our society, and which is expressed in hate crimes like this one,” said Ivana Gutiérrez, vice president of Conurbanes por la Diversidad Agencia Presentes .

What was investigated

Using security cameras from the Municipal Monitoring Center, officers arrested the alleged assailant at the intersection of Rivadavia and Moreno streets. He is a 15-year-old boy who claimed to be homeless and from the San Nicolás neighborhood. He was taken to the First Police Station in Quilmes and later transferred to the juvenile detention center in La Plata on charges of homicide.

The case is being handled by the Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Prosecutor's Office No. 1 of the Quilmes Judicial Department, headed by Dr. María Julia Botasso. The prosecutor ordered the presence of the Scientific Police, the transfer of the minor, and that the body be taken to the morgue where an autopsy is pending. 

In a state of emergency

The municipality is working with the Quilmes Pride Network to search for missing persons in order to identify the victim.

The case highlights the hostile environment faced by the trans and travesti community in the country, and in this particular case, in the province of Buenos Aires. “Declaring a state of social emergency regarding prejudice-based violence against trans and travesti people is extremely important so that our lives are protected,” Gutiérrez stated. 

The demands of the LGBTIQ+ activists found support in the courts, but not yet in the executive branch. During the trial for the trans homicide of Tehuel de la Torre, prosecutor Juan Pablo Caniggia requested , in addition to the accused's life imprisonment, a series of reparations measures, such as declaring a state of social emergency regarding bias-motivated violence against trans and gender-diverse people in the province. He also requested the implementation of a specific protocol for searching for missing LGBTI+ individuals. Both requests were included in the ruling of the Oral Criminal Court No. 2 of La Plata .

“I believe that from our humble positions, the most important thing in these violent times is to fight and apply the pedagogy of love to counteract the lack of humanity, affection, and love to which they want to subject trans women,” Gutiérrez concluded.