GREELEY, Colo.—Prosecutors in Greeley are treating the beating death of a transgender woman as a hate crime.
The Weld County district attorney’s office filed criminal charges against 31-year-old Allen Ray Andrade on Thursday including first-degree murder and committing a bias motivated crime, which is also a felony.
Andrade is accused of killing 20-year-old Justin Zapata, who lived as a woman and was known as Angie.
According to court documents, Andrade told investigators he and Zapata went on a date after meeting online. He allegedly confessed to beating her with a fire extinguisher after realizing Zapata was biologically male.
The arrest affidavit said Andrade took a fire extinguisher off a shelf and struck Zapata twice in the head, telling investigators he thought he “killed it.” He allegedly told investigators that he struck Zapata again as she struggled to sit up.
Andrade was also charged with first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft for allegedly stealing Zapata’s car. He was also charged with committing identity theft against Zapata’s sister.
