The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested 29-year-old Kevyn Ramirez for the murder of Viccky Gutierrez, a 33-year-old transgender woman found dead in her apartment earlier in January. According to a press release from the LAPD, Ramirez confessed that he killed Gutierrez after a dispute.
Ramirez is being held on $2 million bail, according to the release.
Many activists and advocates first learned about Gutierrez’s death from Bamby Salcedo, president of the Los Angeles-based TransLatina Coalition.
“Our community is mourning once again the horrific results of the fucked up society in which we all live in,” Salcedo said. “We all need to #resisttoexist.”
In an interview with INTO, Salcedo said that she knew Gutierrez, as she often came to TransLatina Coalition to use some of the organization’s services.
“You know, just to learn of this beautiful person, she was so sweet and so nice and so beautiful. Just a beautiful person in general,” Salcedo said. “It’s really devastating that she’s’ not longer with us. It’s not just that she was murdered but the way she was murdered.”
She added, “We believe that she was killed because of who she was.”
Salcedo and the TransLatina Coalition held a vigil for Gutierrez on Friday, January 12 in Los Angeles.
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