Killing of Cenida Ramos

Killing of Cenida Ramos
Close-up of Cenida Ramos
Date12 January 2014 (2014-01-12)
Timeca 1:30 am CT
LocationElston Kerr Street, Belize City, Belize
Coordinates17°29′44″N 88°12′02″W / 17.49549°N 88.20045°W / 17.49549; -88.20045
TypeHomicide (official), hate crime (possible), crime of passion (possible)
MotiveArmed robbery (official), transphobia (possible)
Deaths1
Arrests0
Suspects2 cyclists
Convicted0

At about 1:30 am CT on 12 January 2014, two unknown male suspects on bicycles allegedly stabbed and killed Cenida Ramos,[i] an 18-year-old transgender woman, on Elston Kerr Street in Southside, Belize City, Belize. Police, investigating the crime as a murder, claimed the motive was armed robbery, but family and LGBTQ rights organisations disputed this, alleging it had been a hate crime. Ramos is thought to be first openly transgender individual murdered in Belize. As of 2023, the case remained unsolved.

Background

Belize is a particularly hostile place for members of its LGBTQ community, and especially for transgender individuals, who face severe transphobia in nearly all aspects of their lives. Cenida Ramos, an openly transgender eighteen year old, for instance, would often brave verbal and even physical harassment while out and about.[n 1]

Killing

Eighteen-year-old Cenida Ramos headed out of her house (on Laura Dunn Street) on foot at about 1:00 am CT on 12 January 2014, after having received a phone call, ostensibly inviting her to a party.[n 2] At circa 1:50 am, police came across her lifeless body, sprawled face down on the sidewalk of Elston Kerr Street in Southside, Belize City, with two fatal stab wounds to the chest.[1] CCTV footage showed Ramos pacing up and down the street near Lord's Ridge Cemetery and Gwen Lizarraga High School when two male suspects on bicycles rode up and seemingly tried to rob her at about 1:30 am.[2] Ramos is seen putting up a fight, after which one assailant stabs her in the chest with a butcher knife, whereupon Ramos runs from them and collapses a short distance away, while the alleged robbers make their escape.[3] Ramos was pronounced dead on arrival at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital at 2:47 am.[4]

Aftermath

Family believed Ramos had been lured to her death, given the phone call she had received before heading out, and given that (according to friends) she had been receiving death threats for the past week from a former dating prospect.[n 3] UNIBAM, a local LGBTQ rights organisation, noted it may have been a hate crime, given Ramos had been "a popular and flamboyant member of the local LGBTQ community".[5] Police believed the motive had simply been attempted robbery, but were investigating the crime as a murder.[6] As of June 2023, the case remained unsolved.[7]

Ramos's killing is thought to be the first instance in the country of an openly transgender individual being murdered.[8] UNIBAM condemned the crime as a "vicious, senseless and inhumane killing", noting that "when there are no laws to protect or even acknowledge the existence of a subset of our population [transgender people], this kind of crime can easily occur with little justice".[9] They urged the public to "refuse to allow this heinous crime to go silent," asking them to "talk about it and how we don't want to live in a Belize where someone can be murdered for the kind of clothes they wear".[10] Aria Lightfoot, a local commentator, similarly denounced the murder, further excoriating members of the public who blamed Ramos for her death.[11] Jen Psaki (US State) also condemned the "brutal killing", noting "no one should be subjected to violence because of who they are or who they love".[n 4] In April 2014, UNIBAM cited Ramos at the IACHR as proof of the urgent need for hate crime legislation in Belize,[12] and commemorated her for IDAHOT 2015.[13] In their 2023 submission for the fourth UPR for Belize, Belize Trans Colours noted police still had "no enforceable internal policy to deal with trans victims of violence", pointing out that Ramos's case still remained unresolved.[7]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Some sources refer to Ramos by her deadname, Joseph Sanchez, claim she called herself Prince Joe, use he/him pronouns for her, or label her a crossdresser or drag queen (rather than a transgender woman). Both UNIBAM and Belize Trans Colours (local LGBTQ rights organisations) label her a transgender woman, referring to her by her chosen name of Cenida Ramos (in United Belize Advocacy Movement 2015a; Belize Trans Colours 2023, p. 6).
  1. ^ 7 News 2014c. According to her brother, "when she walked on the street, boys would tell her things, but she wouldn't pay them any mind, she'd just continue straight forward [nonetheless] she attracted a lot of enemies, either way, they just hated on her, [but] she didn't mess with anyone" (7 News 2014c). Her brother admitted he used to "beat [Ramos] to force her to stop wearing women's clothes" until he eventually desisted "because that apparently was what [Ramos] wanted" (Amandala 2014b). Her brother noted that "on many occasions" he had to intervene to protect Ramos from people who intended to physically assault her (Amandala 2014b). Ramos had reportedly quit school "because of numerous death threats and the constant hate she endured" there (Twocanview 2014).
  2. ^ 7 News 2014c; News 5 2014c; Amandala 2014b. According to her brother, Abner Sanchez, this was unusual, as Ramos "was always picked up" rather than walking about on foot (7 News 2014c; News 5 2014c). Ramos's mother, Virignia Arzu, did not express such concerns, having spoken to Ramos just before she headed out (News 5 2014c).
  3. ^ 7 News 2014c; News 5 2014c; Amandala 2014b. Ramos's brother noted, "from what I heard from her friends, the person she'd been going out with hadn't known she was [transgender ...] so it looks like when the person found out that she was, he started sending her death threats" (News 5 2014c). Ramos's brother deemed it a crime of passion, but her mother concurred with a News 5 reporter who asked, "do you think it is because of her lifestyle that she was killed?" (News 5 2014c). Both disputed police's theory of robbery, noting Ramos's mobile phone and cash had not been stolen (Amandala 2014b). Both are quoted by Amandala as claiming Ramos was killed "simply because she liked to dress as a woman" (Amandala 2014b).
  4. ^ US State Department 2014; News 5 2014a. 7 News noted this was the first time a Belizean murder had prompted a statement by the US State Department (7 News 2014a).

References

  1. "UNIBAM president says murder was a hate crime". News 5. 13 January 2014.
  2. "3 murders in the City: Cross-dresser killed on Elston Kerr Street". News 5. 13 January 2014.
  3. "18 year old transgender youth killed, was it a hate crime?". 7 News. 13 January 2014.
  4. "Police say cross dresser 'Prince Joe' was robbed". 7 News. 14 January 2014.
  5. "Cross-dresser stabbed dead". Amandala. 14 January 2014.
  6. "UNIBAM denounces hate crime in Belize". Ambergris Today. 14 January 2014.
  7. "UNIBAM statement on alleged 'hate crime'". West Vision. 14 January 2014.
  8. "A look at the possible motive for Joseph Sanchez's murder". News 5. 14 January 2014.
  9. "Hate crime vs hate incident and Joseph Sanchez". UNIBAM. 14 January 2014.
  10. "Gay teen murdered in Belize". Twocanview. 15 January 2014.
  11. "Killing of Joseph Sanchez, an LGBT Teenager in Belize" (Press release). US State. 16 January 2014.
  12. "U.S. issues a statement on the murder of cross-dresser, Joseph Sanchez". News 5. 17 January 2014.
  13. "US State Department shows respect to 'Prince Joe'". 7 News. 14 January 2014.
  14. "UNIBAM challenges Belize at OAS human rights commission hearing". Amandala. 4 April 2014.
  15. "Belize IDAHOT 2015: LGBT youth, social complications, quiet resistance". UNIBAM. 17 May 2015.
  16. BTC Submission to the UN UPR for Belize (Report). 29 July 2023.
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