Sara Millerey's transphobic murder: when cruelty goes viral
Sara Millerey González Borja, a Colombian woman, had her arms and legs broken, was thrown into the river, and while she cried for help, people just watched and filmed. LGBT organizations had been warning about the increase in violence and transphobia in Colombia. The role of the media and the message on social media.
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The video of Sara Millerey González Borja, a 32-year-old trans woman, agonizing while clinging to a branch, her body bones broken from blows, screaming for help, brutally documented the cruelty that transvestite and trans people continue to suffer in Colombia and around the world in 2025. Sara's arms and legs were broken, and she was thrown into the La García stream in the Playa Rica neighborhood of Bello (Antioquia).
It was Friday, April 4th, at four in the afternoon, in a public space where several people were pleading with others not to help her, urging them to let her drown in the current of a river swollen by the rains. Someone called for help, and Sara was taken to a hospital in Medellín, where she died on Sunday. Someone recorded the violent incident; the video went viral, and Sara Millerey's name trended on social media.
“There were some guys standing there, also recording what was happening to her with their cell phones, and they were telling people not to help her. So there was fear of intervening for fear of being shot. It was necessary for the police to intervene,” a relative told El Colombiano during the funeral held yesterday.
The same source recounted that Sara was a cheerful and charismatic fighter who had finished high school two years prior at night school. She loved to show off her wigs and dresses. “She was so beloved that motorcycles would often stop for her, and she would hop on and pose like a queen. She loved being seen that way, even though there were those who didn't like her personality,” the source said at the farewell. The family invited neighbors, activists, and officials to attend the burial ceremony. “Fly high, my little girl,” her mother wrote on a ribbon placed on the white coffin. “I ask that justice be done. Those who did this have no forgiveness from God,” she told local media.
The video on social media
From Sentiido—a Colombian media outlet focused on gender, diversity, and social change—Li Cuellar, co-director, analyzed the role of the media and social networks in the coverage. “The cruelty and torture, how Sara was subjected to this terrible suffering until her death, is deeply moving and raises questions about humanity. The existence of a video as evidence of what is done to trans people, how they are humiliated and murdered, provokes outrage. It is very good that the media is covering this; it is very important that they do so.”
One thing that stands out, Li says, is how widely the video of her torture has circulated on social media. “It serves as a kind of warning, to show people that these kinds of videos can be shared without any problem. It seems like the deaths of trans people are valued less than anyone else’s.”
“I think there’s a very big problem with the analysis we’re doing on the consumption of what circulates on social media, and it can’t just stop at outrage. There needs to be a deeper reflection on the structural nature of this violence . There’s a very important conversation pending about the role of the media. If this had happened to a cisgender woman or a student at a university or private school in Bogotá or Medellín, the story would have been different,” says the co-director of Sentiido.
And she observes that the narrative surrounding Sara's life in some media outlets seeks a kind of "justification" for her lifestyle. "What we need to explain is the structural violence, not her biography—whether she used psychoactive substances or spent a lot of time on the streets, as some narratives suggest—which explains what happened to her, but rather the violence against trans people that exists in this country, in the department of Antioquia, and throughout Latin America, a violence that is reproduced and accepted."
We know this transphobia is not isolated. And there are recurring themes: “Throwing the victim in the river, torturing them, and subjecting them to humiliation, abuse, and profound pain is a form of punishment. The fact that someone has the nerve to stand and film this murder says a lot about how little a trans person's life is worth in this world and in Latin America.”
Violence against LGBT people increased in Colombia
“ Sara was warned about the danger she faced several months ago. And the State did nothing. On Monday, April 7, we learned that Sara was tortured, beaten, and thrown into the river simply for being a trans woman. This is the 24th case in 2025, and 14 of these victims were trans people,” Jesusa Ramírez, from the León Zuleta Collective, told Presentes. The Colombian trans activist is referring to the fact that several human rights organizations had been warning the State about the increase in violence.
Caribe Afirmativo emphasized that the violence against Sara is not an isolated incident. “ It is part of a wave of systematic violence faced by LGBTIQ+ people in the country, especially trans people, who continue to be the target of attacks that seek not only to silence their voices but also to erase their very existence .” Proof of this is that “most of these crimes occur in broad daylight, in public spaces, in front of silent witnesses and with the indifference or complicity of many people and authorities. It was this same indifference that condemned Sara to not receiving immediate help.”
The organization reports 24 LGBTQ+ people murdered in Colombia so far this year, denounces the lack of an effective response from the State, and demands urgent action from the Attorney General's Office, the Ombudsman's Office, the Inspector General's Office, the Antioquia Governor's Office—since it is one of the areas with the highest rates of LGBTQ+ hate—and the Mayor's Office of Bello. “They have a responsibility to act. This crime must be investigated immediately and cannot go unpunished, like so many others.”
At the end of January, the Colombian Ombudsman's Office at least 13 murders of LGBTQI + were recorded In February, ILGA LAC (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean) issued a statement: “In recent times, the LGBTQI+ population of Colombia is experiencing a resurgence of systematic violence ,” it warned. The organization noted that in 2024, reports from various organizations documented 338 acts of hate-motivated violence. Among these, 50 LGBTQI+ people were murdered, and 28—more than half of the victims—were transgender. “ So far in 2025, according to these reports, 15 LGBTQI+ people have been murdered, 6 of whom were transgender ,” ILGA LAC stated .
Jesusa, from her organization León Zuleta (named after an emblematic figure for LGBT rights in Colombia), is part of ILGA LAC and had approached them to denounce what has been happening. “In several departments and municipalities of Colombia, armed groups are on the rise, carrying out what they call 'social cleansing.' They want to eliminate trans people; they consider us a danger to the municipalities .”
In Bello, organizations do grassroots community work, and Sara participated, Jesusa recounts. The trans activist says that violence against LGBTQ+ people, and especially against trans people, has become systematic. “The numbers are increasing; by April 2025, there were 14 cases of trans women murdered, some of whom were sex workers. Armed groups are once again seizing control of the municipalities and some departments due to the fascism that has been growing with the far right.”
Justice for Sara and all trans lives
In Colombia, there is an Urgent Cases Committee to address incidents that violate the rights of these communities. The Ministry of the Interior reported today that on April 7th it urged “national, departmental, and municipal entities to take action regarding the case and implement preventative measures in response to the high rates of violence against the LGBTIQ+ population in Antioquia .” It held an extraordinary session with relevant entities and the Public Prosecutor's Office to review Sara's case and other instances of violence against the LGBTIQ+ population. The Ministry also announced that on April 23rd, it will hold the first high-level session of the National Committee for Urgent LGBTI Cases and Cases of People with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (OSIEGD) in Bogotá to address the systematic violence they suffer and the State's actions in response.
Jesusa says that few cases are thoroughly investigated . “Because there’s no coordination between the national government, which supports the rights of the LGBTI community, and some regional and district governments with opposing views, they always try to wash their hands of the matter, claiming it’s a territorial responsibility, and that’s why cases are sometimes not investigated. There are no results from the investigations, and that’s why things take so long. But it’s not just Sara Millerey’s case. Of the 24 cases we’ve registered, less than 10% have been resolved.”
The role of the media
The brutality is a defining characteristic of hate crimes. It seeks to convey a message. This time, it didn't go unnoticed. The family, activists, and the government: all condemned Sara's hate crime. This isn't something that happens often. Almost all media outlets reported on the story. This is also not the case: at Presentes, we know that news of transfemicides doesn't completely break through the media blackout. As Susy Shock says, "It seems that trans and travesti people aren't on the emotional agenda."
President Petro called on the national police to solve the crime. Members of Congress also expressed their condemnation. The Antioquia government and the Bello mayor's office are offering a reward of over 100 million Colombian pesos (50 million each, equivalent to $10,000 USD) for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
Women's groups are calling for vigils in Bogotá and Bello to demand justice.
Many media outlets continue to circulate the video and revictimize Sara, using an identity that is no longer hers (the one assigned at birth) and referring to "wrong bodies." The same is true for some government officials.
“The media outlets that often turned their backs on us and didn't listen to organizations to reduce violence against trans people reported the news but didn't protect Sara Millerey. Some are trampling on her memory,” says Jesusa. “Some media outlets are revictimizing her even after her death, publishing her legal name. Territorial entities and the State are doing the same. Sadly, this news story has led us to believe she could become a martyr, hoping that we will finally be heard and that justice will be served for the 24 cases. We are concerned about the rise of fascism on social media; hateful comments put trans people at risk, especially activists, who are also being politically targeted by the opposition at these times.”
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