Cherished brother to Pearl and Jesus Serrano of C Although they were given the option of convicting the men of second-degree murder or manslaughter, they were unable to proceed past the first-degree murder deliberations. Watch the ABC7 Originals documentary, "Being Gwen: A Life and Death Story," streaming now in the video player below. Guerrero sees her daughters legacy firsthand each time the Lifetime movie, A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Storyairs. East Bay native Malaika Fraley is an award-winning criminal justice reporter and formerly covered courts for the Bay Area News Group. As a young boy, Eddie Araujo always felt like he was different in a way. An estimated 3,000 marched from Dolores Park to Civic Center where a rally was held. At a vigil later that evening at the LGBT Center in San Francisco, advocated lamented the men were not convicted of first-degree murder but still called the verdict a huge victory for the transgender rights. All Rights Reserved. [50], The second trial began on May 31, 2005. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act into law, challenging the gay/trans panic defense used by her killers to lessen their culpability. [11] The night they met Araujo, she flirted with all four men and they smoked marijuana together. When youre in a big family, youre either going to want a bunch of kids or youre not going to want any, she said. I still call her mom when I talk to her.. Curating the best of The Standards top-notch reporting, every Saturday. The jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of also convicting Jason Cazares. NEWARK, Calif., -- The murder of Gwen Araujo in 2002 marked a turning point in the fight for transgender rights. He was awakened by loud voices and eventually emerged outside his room to observe a chaotic scene. [23], She was then placed in the bed of a pick-up truck, and the four men drove her body four hours away, burying her near the Sierra Nevada mountains in a shallow grave in the El Dorado National Forest near Silver Fork Road in El Dorado County. Alameda County Sheriff's Office dispatched four crime scene investigators and two detectives to recover the body from the grave site. Police then question Nabors, Magidson and Jos Merl. Michael Magidson and Jos Merl were sentenced to 15 years to life for killing Gwen Araujo. The case attracted national attention, both good and bad. But her murder is still important today. [31] Merl was concerned with cleaning Araujo's blood off the couch[30] and carpet before retreating to his room so the others would not see him crying.[23]. Even though it took time to adjust to the change, soon they started to see and accept Araujo as a woman. Jerry Brown. The 17-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area was punched, beaten and eventually strangled to death when several men discovered she was a transgender woman. People are going to be hard on you, and its not going to be easy. Fred Phelps and the members of Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church ( who also made an appearance in our last article) promised to picket the funeral but thankfully did not. San Mateo County could soon expand direct cash payments to some of its poorest residents, Pittsburg could soon see road and school crosswalk improvements, Opinion: What I learned about myself at the Richard Nixon Library, USC uses defense to upset No. (AP Photo/Anda Chu, Pool) POOL PHOTO, Defendant Jose Merel listens to the testimony of his younger brother, Emmanuel Merel, during Jose Merel's murder trial in Alameda Superior Court on Thursday, April 21, 2004, in Hayward, Calif. Emmanuel Merel testified that he tried to push Eddie "Gwen" Araujo that he tried to push her out the door to safety in the chaos that followed the discovery that she was biologically male. NEWARK19E-C-18OCT02-MT-HO "I know that their force is what stopped us from getting her out of the house.". bitea dose of arts, culture and more. Referring to Araujo as Lidathe name she had used with themNabors testified that he saw Magidson raising the rope to her neck before he left the garage and that Magidson later told the others "that he had wrapped the rope around Lida's neck and twisted it." [30], Magidson testified that it was instead Nabors who strangled her and struck her with the shovel,[32] and Cazares testified that he never struck her and did not see her die. Anti-shock collar legislation has garnered widespread supportand controversyfrom animal welfare advocates. Eddie then began transitioning as a woman and called herself Gwen, after her favorite singer Gwen Stefani.According to court testimony, Araujo, whom the men knew a Lida, engaged in sexual . If it's a man, she ain't gonna leave. [60] According to Lamiero, Cazares was willing to plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact, but that deal was rejected because the sentence was just three years and admitted no culpability in the murder. According to court testimony, Araujo, whom the men knew a Lida, engaged in sexual activity with Michael Magidson and Jos Merl. [12] Later, she engaged in oral sex with Magidson and anal sex with Merl. Still, there have been nearly 25slayings of transgender people in the United States so far in 2016 alone, according to Noyola, including the killing of Brandi Bledsoe in Cleveland last week. On the evening of October 3rd, she attended a house party with a number of other people, including Jaron Nabors, Michael Madison, Paul Merel, and his brother Jose Merel. Traumatized by her daughters murder in the East Bay city of Newark, the ensuing trials and an onslaught of invasive media attention, Guerrero has had a hard time finding a job. Her mother recalls they both cried a lot that night but she eventually told her daughter she would support her transition. Gwen Araujo was born on February 24, 1985, in Brawley, California, to Edward Araujo and Sylvia Guerrero. Bamby Salcedo, who went on to establish The TransLatin@ Coalition in Los Angeles, said she was motivated to accept her sexual identity and fight for transgender rights after learning of Araujo's death. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act. Now its a huge trans event that kicks off the San Francisco Pride weekend. [8][13] According to Merl, Magidson said he was not sure she was dead until they struck her with a shovel. Gwen, often called a woman, was really just a 90-pound girl withno chance against the four drunken youngmen, including two who had been sexually intimate with her, Guerrero said. 2 Stanford 55-46, Ask Amy: I'm young and hot, and I just got two of my older clients pregnant, Harriette Cole: My husband can't remember what he did on New Year's Eve, and I can't forget, The Bay Area's 10 best new bakeries, from Los Gatos to Danville to Emeryville, Dear Abby: Because of a patio heater, we've been dragged into their messy divorce, Dear Abby: I kept this secret for 30 years, and now I'm devastated by the outcome, Ask Amy: When I saw what was in the gift bag, I sat down and cried, Minnesota boy has slept outside 1,000 nights in a row, despite bugs, a bear and 38-below, Dear Abby: It makes me queasy when my boyfriend sends roses to my office for no reason, Dear Abby: I'm scared she'll find out about my crush and it will ruin everything, Harriette Cole: I'm hurt by my best friend's surprising behavior, AR-15 style rifle marketed for children showcased at Las Vegas gun convention: Despicable, Freshwater fish are significantly more contaminated with toxic forever chemicals than saltwater fish and shellfish, analysis shows, Polar bear killed a woman and a boy after chasing residents in Alaska town, Colorados major ski resorts could get a foot or more of snow this week, WATCH: White shark surprises boy in stunning fishing encounter off Fort Lauderdale, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Here's what happened to Bay Area trans teen Gwen Araujo. Back in Tracy, Guerrero examined a broken taillight on her car while holding her daughters framed picture in her left hand. Writing is not a hobby, but a passion. For the uninitiated, Araujo was a 17-year-old trans woman from Newark, California. During the trial, the defense maintained that Araujo deceived the men into non-consensual sex by not revealing her biological gender and that the men reacted out of rage when they killed her. Jerry Brown. That's not a world in which I want to live or most people want to live in. [25] Jos Merl became concerned that Araujo was bleeding on the couch and ordered her off it. When asked how she forced them, Nabors answered, "Through deception. I think it was toxic anyway, keeping all those emotions in. When trans people are painted in negative, stigmatized portrayals by politicians and so-called legal experts as has happened with ongoing bathroom policy debates the trans community gets marked for ridicule and violence, she said. If they actually did know, then why did they kill her? Jos Merl testified and admitted he was ignorant about his thinking about sexuality at the time of the murder. [7] However, the autopsy showed that she died from strangulation associated with blunt force trauma to the head. Sylvia Guerrero is seen in San Francisco on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. This is where I sleep now, she said, pointing to the bare floor of her sons living room. Fred Phelps and the members of Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church promised to picket the funeral,[36] but did not.,[64] there were people there that picket with signs but friends wore angel wings to block casket from signs. ",[20] and the men with whom she had had sexual relations became enraged and violent. Guerrero looked after her 10 younger siblings while her parents worked, getting them ready for school and packing their lunches. | Olivia Cruz Mayeda/The Standard Guerrero always knew Gwen's relationship to her gender was different from other kids. [15], During the February 2003 indictment proceedings, Nabors gave a detailed account of the murder and burial. What Araujo did not know was that these four had already suspected that she was trans, and . Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. "[23], At some point after that, Brown woke Paul Merl, and they left the house with Emmanuel Merl. Gwen Araujo was a 17-year-old transgender teenager who lived in Newark, Calif. with her mother, Sylvia Guerrero. In her third year of living as a woman, Araujo began hanging out with several men that she met in the late summer of 2002. Her hair is dyed black and falls flat against her back. A recent family photograph shows Eddie Araujo holding his niece Arianna. Prosecuting attorney Lamiero used male pronouns and her birth name to refer to Araujo, saying the defendants had decided "that the wages of [Gwen] Araujo's sin of deception were death". She got a grant from the Horizons Foundation to speak at schools about what it is like to raise a transgender child and the challenges transgender youth face in society. [8], Paul Merl was released after Brown and Emmanuel Merl told the police that he had left the scene with them. During a police interrogation, Nabors went into detail about what happened and who was involved. [11] Jos Merl testified he was cleaning Araujo's blood out of the carpets and couch as Magidson was binding her ankles, prior to her being taken to the garage. The youngest man charged, Jaron Nabors, then19, led police to Gwens body, hogtied and weighted down with rocks in a shallow grave in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and then testified against the others. According to court testimony, Araujo, who presented herself as Lida, engaged in sexual acts with Magidson and his friend, 22-year-old Jose Merel. When Gwen was 8, Guerrero stopped her daughter as she was getting out of the car for school and asked her if she knew she was a boy. The four who were initially arrested and accused of the murder were Magidson (age 22); Nabors (19), Jos Merl (22), and Paul Merl. Merl testified that Nabors was responsible for the major head injuries to Araujo, but supported the assertion that Magidson had strangled her. Today marks the tenth anniversary of the brutal murder of transgender teenager Gwen Araujo in Newark, California. To avoid a third trial, Cazares' lawyer reached an agreement with prosecutors for a manslaughter conviction. It had deadlocked on Cazares, voting 93 in favor of convicting him for murder. During Magidson's testimony, a tape of his initial interview with the police was shown, in which an investigator was recorded coaching him to use the trans panic defense: "You'd be surprised. Araujo was killed at a house party 14 years ago . [62] Attorney Gloria Allred represented Araujo's family. [53], To avoid a third trial, Cazares pleaded no contest to manslaughter on December 16, 2005,[60] and was sentenced to six years in prison,[61] with credit for time already served. The fund's purpose was to support school-based programs in the nine-county Bay Area that promote understanding of transgender people and issues through annual grants. Any woman that knows you after this, it's not going to matter. [7], Araujo came out as transgender in 1999 at the age of 14, and began using the name Gwen after her favorite musician, Gwen Stefani, but also went by Wendy and Lida. Also at the gathering were Paul's girlfriend, Nicole Brown, and friends Jason Cazares, 22, and Jaron Nabors, 19. The four defendants in the murder of Gwen Araujo are being sentenced to prison on January 27, 2006. By this time, Araujo's mother was able to legally change her daughter's name to Gwen Amber Rose Araujo. Sylvia Guerrero has faced hardship since Araujo's death. He left, along with his brother Paul and his girlfriend, while Araujo was bloodied in the living room. She held her gaze as tears welled in her eyes. In high school, Gwen would regularly ask Guerrero to give her friends advice on their relationships and drama at school. Gwen Amber Rose Araujo (February 24, 1985 - October 4, 2002) [1] was an American trans teenager who was murdered in Newark, California at the age of 17. In 2002, she would be brutally murdered by a group of men who uncovered that she was transgender. | Olivia Cruz Mayeda/The Standard, By clicking Subscribe you confirm you have read and agree to our. Sunseri said. When Gwen was murdered that night, it was the beginning of a life sentence for me and my family, Guerrero said. age: 17 yrs 7 mos 7 days ~~~ Edward Gwen Araujo, Jr. of Newark entered into rest Thursday, October 3, 2002. Years later, Jerry Brown signed legislation as governor that banned the defense strategy altogether. [60], Gwen Araujo was mourned in a public funeral at St. Edwards Catholic Church in Newark on October 25, 2002. Four months later, the jury found Magidson and Merel guilty of second-degree murder. One can debate the propriety of one choosing to identify with a gender other than the one they were born with. [12], Nabors and Cazares left in Magidson's truck to retrieve shovels and a pickaxe from Cazares's house,[25][28] saying as they left the Merl house that the other men were going to "kill that b". I feel like a freak.". Im kind of worried Ill get pulled over, she said, bent over and laughing, but I roll deep with angels.. [8] She began to grow her hair long and planned to undergo hormone treatment and surgery. After the jury was removed from the courtroom, bailiffs removed the defendants and locked the doors while they escorted Nabors to the stand. Gwen Araujo was beaten to death by a group of men, two of them ex-lovers of hers, when they found out she used to be a he. I cant tell youhow many people have told me, because of your daughter, I am free to be who I am.. "It is for this witness' safety," Sheppard said, during a meeting with journalists in his office. Merl was granted early parole in 2016, after reportedly showing extensive remorse to Araujo's mother, who supported the decision. Sylvia Guerrero said that she wants attorneys to refer to her daughter as Gwen when the case is retried. Below, you'll find a timeline of how the life and death of Gwen unfolded. "When Gwen was murdered that night, it was the beginning of a life sentence for me and my family," Guerrero told the publication. 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