Cross-dresser murdered in Albuquerque

[Syne]

Cross-dresser murdered in Albuquerque
KRQE dot com

    * Reporter: Dave Bohman
    * Web Producer: Bill Diven

For the third time in four years and the second time in a month a cross-dressing man has been found dead on the streets of Albuquerque.

They are believed to be the victims of what police across America say is a growing hate crime: People born men, dressed as women, and in all likelihood murdered because of that.

[Shana A]

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Another Cross-Dresser Found Dead

By T.J. Wilham
Journal Staff Writer

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/072310383420newsmetro07-07-09.htm

       Three cross-dressers have been found beaten to death on the city's Southeast side in the past four years.
    Two of the men were found in the past month.
    All the victims were apparently American Indian, and their bodies were lying in the middle of streets or alleys.
    But police said Monday that they have no information to lead them to believe the three homicides are related. Investigators said two victims were prostitutes. The latest deaths occurred in a neighborhood just east of Presbyterian Hospital, three blocks from each other.

[lisagurl]

Investigators said two victims were prostitutes

Selling illegal wares leaves you with not police protection. The same reason many drug dealers are killed.

[Michelle.]

Find myself agreeing with Lisa on this one. Also consider that prostitutes in general are amongst the highest per capita victims of murder. Street prostitutes in particular.

[Syne]

Police are not here to protect you, only to write up the history notes. That is why the majority of police units no longer have `To Serve and To Protect` as a motto. When not being historians, they are enforcers of the local laws and nothing more.

Plus two American Indian crossdressers and within blocks of each other. More in the past but suddenly two close together. This is a predator and he is just getting warmed up and the fact is that the police and public do not give a damn so more will die until he is caught.

[lisagurl]

This is a predator and he is just getting warmed up and the fact is that the police and public do not give a damn so more will die until he is caught.

Vigilantes take to the streets when the police do not enforce the law.

[Virginia87106]

She was a transsexual and she was not a prostitute.  Here is my report on the murder.

This is my report to interested parties concerning the recent trans deaths.  I have talked with T.J.Wilham of the Journal, John Walsh of APD, and Patricia, a friend of the last victim, as well as a person connected with the Navajo LGBT community.

A transgender Navajo, Teri Benally, 42, was found beaten to death in the 500 block of Maple SE in Albuquerque, New Mexico at 1am this morning (July 4). Teri is the third transgender Navajo murdered in this area since 2005. Fredrick Watson, 32, was killed June 9 this year and Ryan Shey Hoskie, 23, was found beaten to death in January 2005.
From nativeout.com

Patricia London said that Teri was a wonderful person with a big heart.  She knew her for several years, meeting her as a neighbor and kept up her friendship even after she moved away from Teri's neighborhood.  Teri had a big white van that she drove, and met her for the last time several months ago with another friend.  Teri was very concerned for animals and wanted to help her tribe be better caretakers of animals.  She adopted several feral cats.  Patricia said she was so upset in hearing the news and said that this murder "should not be tolerated and cannot be accepted on any level.  She was so shocked to hear about it on the news.  She thought the Albuquerque Journal article was degrading and offensive, in that they called her a "crossdresser" and a "he".  She knew her for years and she always presented as a woman.  Patricia said that to refer to teri as a "he" is like " not respecting a persons religion or beliefs."  She considers the loss a great one.

From KOB comment line on 7-7:
All my life Teri was my aunt. I never judged or questioned.. She taught me not to judge others and to always be who I am. No matter who you were she would ALWAYS help in everyway she could. ......Again thank you to all who sympathize and stick up for my aunt..Also please understand this is a differcult for our family.. . thank you.. GOD BLESS YOU ALL..  Boshie, Farmington



Observations:

1.  We have lost a soul.  The journal article had no back story and was impersonal.  The City needs to know the person, not the event.  I am trying to find the family.  The Navajo LGBT community is well aware of this and feel the same way as Patricia, above.

2.  It is possible that a person or persons are targeting trans people for death.  This is 2 murders in one month.  The police are in part blaming the deaths on their " lifestyle" and I cannot tell you how offensive that is to me.

3.  The journal article must be confronted at some point, but it is the fault of the police not the Journal.  TJ said that he and his editor agonized over the pronouns, and in the end went with the police version because the family could not be found and the incident needed to be reported.  When I talked to John Walsh of APD he had difficulty calling me by female pronouns much less understand the issues involved.  I still have to speak to Carlos Garcia, the lead detective.

Thank you,
Virginia

[lisagurl]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Police believe that a cleaning woman who vanished from a Manhattan high-rise may be dead, that her body was dumped in the trash and that she could turn up in a Pennsylvania landfill.

People are murded everyday without walking the streets at night. What about

We have lost a soul.

for them?
Post Merge: July 10, 2009, 01:57:14 PM

Rodriquez, 46, was last seen around 7 p.m., when security cameras recorded her pushing a cart into an elevator. There was no footage of her leaving the high-rise near the World Trade Center site, police said.

Security in the building is typical for the financial district: Employees need identification cards to enter. Security cameras cover every entrance and many public areas. Every visitor is photographed before they are allowed up from the lobby.

[Genevieve Swann]

Were they actually prostitutes? Did they have a criminal record indicating they were business girls? Or, are the police trying to cover their butts and drag their feet. Something isn't right about these incidents. Murder is still murder no matter what the victims life style was. Punto final!

[lisagurl]

Two of the 3 have been arrested for prostitution.

[Virginia87106]

Yes, that is correct.  Teri Benally was not a prostitute.

[lisagurl]

Teri Benally was not a prostitute.

Has no arrest record for prostitution. The question is why was she walking all alone in the middle of the night? What business was she conducting?

[Virginia87106]

She did engage in risky behavior, and should not have been out alone that late.  But let's be careful to put the blame on who it belongs.....her murderer.

[lisagurl]

Lets be careful and know all the facts.
Post Merge: July 10, 2009, 05:11:59 PM
Lets be careful and know all the facts. I would call being alone on those streets at that time of night risky behavior.

[Nero]

This topic is locked. I'm disgusted by some of the posts here.
Post Merge: July 11, 2009, 06:27:58 PM
I'm disgusted by the lack of humanity and lack of respect for the victim here.
Was she a prostitute? Does it matter? We'd like to think it does. We'd like to think she was a prostitute and brought this on herself. Or even that she was walking alone at night, she was uncareful.
We want to think this, we need to think this because then we can pretend the same would never happen to us. We can feel safe then.
But we can never feel safe. This happens to one of us about once a month regardless of how puritannical and law abiding we may be.
So let's not treat our TG sister with the same lack of respect her killer did.