There are new developments in the case of Jorge Steven López Mercado, the gay 19-year-old whose brutally murdered, decapitated and dismembered body was found two weeks ago in Puerto Rico. One of the key statements by the confessed murderer is being questioned: That the victim was presenting himself as female.
Juan Martínez Matos has been charged with first-degree murder and remains jailed on $4 million bond. Martínez confessed to killing and mutilating López and is laying the foundation of a "gay-panic" defense. Martínez says he met López while looking for a prostitute. Martinez claims López was dressed as a woman and killed him in self-defense after discovering he was a man. Doug Ireland at Gay City News:
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Pedro Julio Serrano contradicted the implications in the confessed murderer’s account. "None of Jorge Steven’s friends, and I’ve spoken to many of them, knew anything about his ever having engaged in sex work, not his family, and not the police," Serrano, who met with investigators on the case, told this reporter. "Nor was he known as a cross-dresser. He identified and lived as a very proud gay man, he was very genuine and authentic. He was just very fashion-oriented and what you could call a gender-bender, but not in a transgendered way." Serrano added, "We do not know if the murderer’s claim that Jorge Steven was wearing a dress is true or not, because the body had been so dismembered, its legs and arms and torso strewn in different locations, and it had also been burned along with the clothes he was wearing."
On Thanksgiving Eve, thousands marched through San Juan to hold a candlelight vigil for the slain teen. The crowd demanded authorities investigate the case as an anti-gay hate crime.
Under considerable pressure by gay activists, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice has agreed to investigate the murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado as a hate crime. There have been at least 20 murders of gay men or transgender women since a 2002 hate crime law was passed in this U.S. commonwealth. This will be the first time the law has been applied.
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Thousands in Puerto Rico Hold Vigil for Slain Gay Teen
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Slain Gay Teen Jorge Steven Lopez Laid to Rest
Vigils for Slain Gay Puerto Rican Teen
Mother of Slain Teen Speaks Out
There should really be no such thing as "Gay Panic Defense"! The fact that this does exist is downright SHAMEFUL!
Posted by: Isis | 28 November 2009 at 20:34
Isis,
I am with you! This defense is DEPLORABLE and so insanely sick. It's an embarassment to this country and our judicial system. There must also be A Black Panic Defense somewhere in the South and every other variety of I AM IGNORANT AND I FREAKED OUT defense!
I will say this: I AM SO PROUD OF LOS BORICUENOS DE PUERTO RICO! Puerto Rico--parents, family, friends, clergy, leaders, even a well-known and loved music star--have shown up in MAJOR WAY IN THE HORRIFIC CASE! Several of our cities--DC, ATL, HOUSTON--could take a lesson from this kind of STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT AND AGAINST WHAT'S WRONG kind of activism.
BRAVO!
Posted by: TheRevKev | 28 November 2009 at 20:44
@ Rev Kev
Thank you as always for being the one who goes 'there'. This was an atrocity and a horrible crime. But I was so proud to see thousands of Puerto Ricans marching in memory of this beautiful young man.
It's also very bittersweet because in my heart I know I will probably never see black people doing the same thing. Sure, hundreds of black folks might march if a child is killed by gunfire. But killed by a gaybasher? Never.
Black gay men won't even stand up and speak out in our own neighborhoods, communities and churches. Not much point expecting straight people to help us if we won't help ourselves.
Posted by: Former COGIC | 28 November 2009 at 21:55
Look murder IS murder...this gay self defense needs to be throw out of court!
Posted by: thegaytekeeper | 28 November 2009 at 23:05
It was just removed in New Zealand this week. Go us.
Posted by: Gary | 29 November 2009 at 05:07
Gay panic defense=bs!!!! Since when do you kill, dismember and burn someone because you "panicked"??? He has no defense, It is CLEARLY a hate crime and it should be an open and shut case. It does not even deserve a trial!!!
Posted by: jen | 29 November 2009 at 05:52
I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't a lover's quarrel gone wrong. That Martinez boy is ggggay.
Posted by: FREELEO | 29 November 2009 at 12:18
FREELEO,
you make an interesting point. I keep thinking that there is more to this story than just classic "hate crime" killing of a gay/trans person. The extensive mutilation is more than just the usual "overkill"
It's ironic that the rape/killing/mutilation of women happens too often in all countries, but nobody ever thinks of prosecuting the crime as a hate crime. They should.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 30 November 2009 at 10:21
The more I see Martinez, the more he looks like someone you'd see on Adam4Adam in Miami, Orlando, or NYC area. So I'm with you Derrick, I think there's definitely more to this story that has yet to be released or discovered.
Posted by: apres moi | 30 November 2009 at 20:56