Via the Greeley Tribune:
Flanked by his sisters, Ashley Zapata, Stephanie Villalobos and Monica Murguia, and his mother, Maria Zapata, Gonzalo Zapata issued a statement about the trial to the media Wednesday. The family did not answer questions.
The statement:
“Angie was my sister.
“She was a member of our family. We loved her very much, and we will miss her every day. Every day and every night our mom has to deal with great pain of … one of her babies being buried. Every day our siblings and I reach for the phone and realize we’ll never hear her voice. There’s no answer anymore.
“A part of our family is missing, stolen from us. Angie was 18, her life was just beginning. She was brave, she had guts, she had courage, and she was beautiful, fun and loving. She was our little sister.
“Through the last week, we’ve watched as our sister Angie was lied about in court, angrily as the defense presented an image of my sister that wasn’t true. Their strategy of tearing down my sister to make a monster look better will not work.
“It is clear: Angie was our sister, an aunt and a daughter. Life was sometimes difficult for her, and we learned along with her to understand she was born a girl with a body that was wrong for her.
“Above all else, she was honest. It took such courage to be who she was. She was strong, there was no reason to believe my sister was anything but strong and honest with everyone.
“This week, we are deeply saddened as we witnessed graphic details about the last few minutes of my sister’s life. A big brother is supposed to protect his little sister. It breaks my heart to think there was nothing I could do.
“My sisters, Monica and Ashley, when they saw what this monster had done, they wanted to hold her, to comfort her and make her feel better. It was hard to realize nothing could have been done.
“He stole something so precious from us.
“Only a monster can look at a beautiful 18-year-old and beat her to death. This monster not only hit my sister, but continued to beat her head in over and over and over until her head was crushed in. He left her there to die.
“He’ll (never) understand how angry we are at him and how much he has hurt us. This past week and half, we’ve seen attorneys working their hardest to seek justice for my sister. …
“We are grateful Colorado has tough laws that make it clear that attacking people because of anti-gender bias will be taken seriously. It will be prosecuted aggressively … in Weld County.
…
“In memory of Angie, we call on Colorado’s leaders to pass a federal hate crime law to protect everyone.
“Justice was achieved. A message was sent loud and clear that crimes target ing LGBT will not be tolerated in Colorado …
“Remember her as we do, as a beautiful, wonderful, precious teenager. She would want us to remember the happy times in her life. And make the world a better place.
“We will always love you Angie and we will always miss you, mija.
“Thank you”
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Previous related posts on this blog:
- Angie Zapata murder trial – Wednesday April 22 – the verdicts (April 22, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – Wednesday April 22 – Now we wait for the verdict (April 22, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – Tuesday April 21 (April 21, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – Monday April 20 (April 20, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – YouTube videos of TV coverage (April 19, 2009
- Angie Zapata murder – possible sentences (April 19, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder – a brief overview of hate crimes legislation in the US (April 19, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – Friday morning overview, April 17 (April 17, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – has the trans panic defence been undermined? (April 17, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial – jury selection (April 16, 2009)
- End Hate (Light a candle for Angie) (April 10, 2009)
- Take action: demand that Colorado Radio host Trevor Carey disavow remarks condoning violence against transgender people (March 19, 2009)
- Angie Zapata case: further pre-trial update (March 12, 2009)
- Judge to rule on confession in Angie Zapata killing (March 7, 2009)
- Remembering Angie Zapata (February 17, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial: accused faces habitual offender tag (January 1, 2009)
- Angie Zapata murder trial update (October 29, 2008)
- Angie Zapata trial – preliminary hearing (September 19, 2008)
- Angie Zapata murder – court date set (August 28, 2008)
- Nearly human? (August 15, 2008)
- Angie Zapata update (August 7, 2008)
- Linkage roundup (August 7, 2008)
- Don’t panic (July 31, 2008)
April 23, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Good God, this is so touching I’m lost for words.
April 24, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I can’t even begin to imagine their loss, and I’m sitting here getting all emotional.
My thoughts are with the Zapata family.