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The
murder
of
a
transgendered
woman
in
Daytona
Beach
on
July
29
has
highlighted
what
activists
describe
as
a
growing
problem
of
violence
directed
against
transgendered
individuals.
Oscar
“Thalia”
Mosqueda,
34,
was
shot
to
death
in
the
parking
lot
of
Garibaldi,
a
restaurant
that
operates
in
the
evenings
as
a
club
that
caters
to
Latino
cross-dressers,
transgendered
people
and
gay
men.
The
suspect,
Cesar
Villazano,
18,
argued
with
Mosqueda
in
the
parking
lot
of
the
club
before
shooting
her,
according
to
the
police
report.
Villazano
fired
a
gun
twice
into
the
air
before
firing
a
third
shot
at
Mosqueda,
striking
her
in
the
head,
police
said.
Villazano
has
been
charged
with
second-degree
murder
in
the
case.
Villazano
confessed
to
shooting
Mosqueda
and
told
police
that
the
victim
made
an
unwanted
sexual
advance
toward
him,
the
police
report
says.
“The
defendant
stated
he
was
upset
because
the
victim
grabbed
his
penis,”
the
report
says.
“He
wasn’t
gay
and
was
very
upset
that
the
victim
grabbed
his
penis
and
embarrassed
him.”
But
a
friend
of
Mosqueda’s
who
witnessed
the
shooting
said
the
victim
never
made
a
pass
at
Villazano.
“It’s
totally
false,”
said
Wesley
Rosser,
who
had
been
friends
with
Mosqueda
for
15
years.
“She
was
never
even
near
him
all
night.”
Rosser
said
the
shooting
occurred
when
Villazano
tried
to
persuade
a
drag
queen
named
Morena
to
go
with
him
in
his
car.
“She
told
him,
‘No.
I
have
to
go
back
to
Deland.
My
boyfriend’s
waiting
for
me
there,’”
Rosser
said.
“[Villazano]
said,
‘I
don’t
give
a
fuck
about
your
boyfriend.’
Then
he
pulled
her
hair
and
tried
to
pull
her
into
the
car.”
According
to
Rosser,
that’s
when
Mosqueda
intervened
and
told
Villazano,
“Leave
her
alone.
Can’t
you
see
she
doesn’t
want
to
be
with
you.”
Villazano
then
fired
the
shots
into
the
air
before
shooting
Mosqueda,
Rosser
said.
Villazano
was
a
regular
at
the
Garibaldi
club,
Rosser
said.
“He
would
not
say
he’s
gay,
but
he
has
messed
with
gays,”
Rosser
said.
He
said
he
knew
a
hairdresser
in
Deland,
Fla.,
who
had
been
with
the
Villazano
and
had
performed
oral
sex
on
him.
“In
Spanish
culture,
you’re
not
considered
gay
if
you
have
sex
with
another
guy
as
a
top,”
Rosser
said.
Villazano,
who
is
Mexican,
told
investigators
that
he
is
in
the
United
States
illegally,
the
police
report
says.
At
the
time
of
Villazano’s
arrest,
there
were
two
warrants
out
against
him.
Both
were
for
failure
to
appear
in
court
on
a
charge
of
driving
without
a
license,
according
to
Jimmy
Flint,
a
spokesperson
for
the
Daytona
Beach
Police
Department.
A
co-defendant,
Luis
Acosta,
has
been
charged
with
possession
of
cocaine.
Acosta
owned
and
drove
the
car
that
Villazano
was
a
passenger
in
on
the
night
of
the
murder,
Flint
said.
Rosser,
the
victim’s
friend,
said
Mosqueda
always
wore
women’s
clothes
and
had
been
taking
hormones
to
develop
breasts.
Rosser
described
Mosqueda
as
“a
very
outgoing,
fun
person
who
liked
to
check
out
new
places.”
Mosqueda,
who
was
Mexican,
was
a
member
of
the
Farm
Workers
Association
of
Florida.
She
was
in
the
United
States
legally
and
worked
at
a
fern
farm,
Rosser
said.
“She
always
made
sure
to
send
money
home
to
her
mother
in
Mexico,”
Rosser
said.
Police
told
local
media
in
Daytona
Beach
that
they
did
not
classify
the
murder
as
a
hate
crime
because
they
did
not
believe
it
was
motivated
by
prejudice.
Brian
Winfield,
communications
director
for
the
gay
rights
group
Equality
Florida,
said
Villazano
“appears
to
be
setting
himself
up
to
use
the
‘homosexual
panic’
defense.”
He
noted
that
the
defense,
in
which
a
defendant
claims
he
panicked
because
of
a
gay
sexual
advance
on
the
part
of
the
victim,
has
not
been
successful
in
recent
years.
“People
are
no
longer
willing
to
accept
the
defense
that
the
suspect
became
insanely
outraged
because
a
person
of
the
same
sex
made
a
pass
at
him,”
Winfield
said.
Winfield
said
there
was
not
enough
information
to
determine
if
the
murder
was
a
hate
crime.
“We’re
not
absolutely
confident
that
it
was
a
hate
crime,”
Winfield
said.
“What’s
clear
is
that
it
is
a
hateful
crime
perpetrated
against
a
member
of
a
community
that
is
the
target
of
much
violence
and
discrimination.”
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