Angie Zapata

Angie Zapata (5 August 1989 – 17 July 2008) was an American trans woman beaten to death in Greeley, Colorado. Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and committing a bias-motivated crime, because he killed her after he learned that she was transgender. The case was the first in the nation to get a conviction for a hate crime involving a transgender victim. Angie Zapata's story and murder were featured on Univision's "Aqui y Ahora" television show on November 1, 2009.

Background
Born Justin Brian Zapata on August 5, 1989, in Brighton, Colorado, she adopted the name "Angie" when she was 16 and began living as a woman.

Murder and trial
Zapata was 18 when she met Allen Andrade (age 31 at the time) through the mobile phone social network MocoSpace. According to Andrade, the two met on July 15, 2008, and spent nearly three days together, during which they had a sexual encounter. Prosecutors state that Andrade later discovered that Zapata was transgender and subsequently began beating her—first with his fists and then with a fire extinguisher—until she was dead. In the arrest affidavit, Andrade said he thought he had "killed it" before leaving in Zapata's car with the murder weapon and other incriminating evidence. Andrade was arrested near his residence driving Zapata's car.

The possibility of prosecuting the case as a hate crime was pressed by Zapata's family. The actual trial began on April 16, 2009. During the trial, the jury heard jailhouse conversations in which Andrade told a girlfriend that "gay things must die."

On April 22, 2009, Andrade was found guilty of first degree murder, hate crimes, aggravated motor vehicle theft and identity theft. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Because Andrade had six prior felony convictions, the judge dubbed him a "habitual criminal" at his May 8, 2009 sentencing trial for the hate crime and theft convictions. This quadrupled his sentence to an additional 60 years.