Sentencing For Slaying of Newark Transgender Teen
January 27th, 2006 by Babe
In a follow-up to one of our previous posts, Michael Magidson and Jose Merel were convicted of second-degree murder in September and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. In December, Cazares pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter; he faces a six-year sentence.
Addressing the court, Gwen/Eddie Araujo’s mother, Sylvia Guerrero, said her entire family has been given “a lifetime sentence of loss.”
Araujo, 17, was born as a male named Eddie but presented herself as a woman. Prosecutors said Magidson, Merel, Cazares and Jaron Nabors killed Araujo on Oct. 4, 2002, when they discovered the beautiful woman they knew actually was a biological male.
Araujo had sex with all of the men except Cazares, according to testimony in the trials of Magidson, Merel and Cazares.
Nabors agreed to a deal calling for a voluntary manslaughter conviction in exchange for his testimony against the other three.
Posted in In The News