Jesusa Fidel Ventura Reyes was a 25-year-old trans woman living in Veracruz, an east coast Mexican state. Better known as Chucha, she had just started transitioning, had raven black hair and a love of fashion. Then, one night around May 17 — the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) — Reyes never came home. After 24 hours, her family called the police.
Police later discovered her head in a cooler in front of the Fortín de las Flores city hall. The rest of her body was thrown onto a street elsewhere in the city.
The following Monday, her family came to identify her body, but her murderer (or murderers) remain at large, her case unsolved. And she’s just one of several trans murders this year whose perpetrators may never face justice.
Related: Gay Mexican schoolteacher found murdered in his home; police suspect hate crime
Chucha’s murder has understandably upset Veracruz’s local LGBTQ community. In a public Facebook post, local trans activist Jazz Bustamante called Chucha “a transgender woman with a life full of obstacles to be accepted as always assumed.”
Bustamante added, “The message is clear: Their hatred towards our population increases each day. I strongly condemn this fact and demand the three powers of government act with such facts before them.”
Bustamante says that during 2019 there have been 11 hate crimes that have gone unpunished. In her recent report, “Diagnosis of Hate Crimes in the State of Veracruz”, Bustamante said from 2013 to 2019 “we have a record of 174 fatalities, among which are the murders with sharp-pointed weapons, torture, asphyxia, firearms, a case of torture and sexual abuse, a case of stoning. ”
Gay Star News notes “Last month, a trans woman named La Becky was shot and killed in Veracruz at a family gathering.” So far, five trans women of color have been slain in the U.S. this year alone.
Polaro
This is so wrong. You don’t get to kill people, even if they push our buttons. WTF
Kangol2
This so horrific, and it underscores that the general situation for trans people, especially trans women, is bad all over. I am still astonished at this line, though: “Police later discovered her head in a cooler in front of the Fortín de las Flores city hall.” Who put that cooler in the City Hall? Surely someone saw it! Or there may be camera footage, no? Coolers with heads in them just don’t show up in government buildings on their own!
Smith David
She resembles those twin sisters Mary-Kate/Ashley from the TV series Fullhouse. I hope they find those responsible. So sad.
baal61
WTF? Will She ever receive justice?
one more thing
Most murders in Mexico go unsolved, there just is no desire to investigate and prosecute…..it would help if the government and police force were not so corrupt!
JessPH
Gruesome murders like this are common in Mexico. They are usually carried out by drug syndicates/cartels so this case could be drug-related and not necessarily a hate crime.