Court upholds life sentence for man convicted of Tehuel de la Torre’s murder

The Buenos Aires Province Court of Criminal Cassation has upheld a ruling handing down a lifetime prison sentence for Luis Alberto Ramos for the murder of Tehuel de la Torre, a young trans man who disappeared in March 2021.

The ruling, signed by judges Daniel Carral and Ricardo Maidana, was issued on Thursday after the rejection of appeals lodged by the defence. It confirms the maximum sentence for aggravated homicide motivated by hatred of gender identity and sexual orientation.

In their written decision, the judges placed particular emphasis on Tehuel’s vulnerability as a young trans man in precarious employment. Ramos exploited this, they said, to lure Tehuel to his home.

They also stressed that the disappearance of Tehuel’s body and the burning of his belongings amounted to a symbolic act of erasing his identity – reinforcing the discriminatory motive behind the crime.

Tehuel’s body has still not been found, more than four years after his murder.

The youngster’s disappearance is an iconic case for the LGBT+ community, which considers it to be a symbolic case representing the violence perpetrated against the trans people in Argentina. 

The evidence that led to the conviction included CCTV footage, the use of Tehuel’s SUBE transport card, the geolocation of his mobile phone, photos of the victim found on Ramos’ phone, charred remains of his belongings discovered on a plot of land, bloodstain analysis with a genetic profile matching Tehuel’s and Ramos’ behaviour.

A second suspect, Oscar Montes, faces a jury trial for his part in the homicide later this year.

The murder of Tehuel de la Torre

On March 11, 2021, 21-year-old Tehuel left his home in the Buenos Aires Province district of San Vicente to attend a job interview for a waiting position in nearby Alejandro Korn.

On the way, he ran into his sister Verónica and told her he was going to meet Ramos, a 37-year-old man who had offered him work at an event.

Tehuel arrived at Ramos’s home that afternoon – where Oscar Montes was also present – and has not been seen since.

– TIMES/NA