California man who tied up, gagged and tortured transgender inmate hours after moving into her cell sentenced to death
DELANO, CALIFORNIA: A California man who tortured and killed his transgender cellmate less than a day after he was transferred into her cell has been sentenced to death.
Miguel Crespo, 48, had been housed with Carmen Guerrero, a trans woman, at the Kern Valley State Prison for just eight hours on October 13, 2013, before she was found dead, according to NBC News. Crespo had bound, gagged, and tortured her before killing her.
LGBTQ Nation reported that Guerrero was previously roomed with a man named Jonathan Wilson, who was allegedly her lover, before he was abruptly transferred to a different prison.
Guerrero had subsequently requested corrections officers for a "nice" cellmate, but those requests were ignored. Instead, Crespo was moved into the cell even though he promised to kill her if he was forced to move to her room.
The 48-year-old, who was already serving a life sentence over a 1993 conviction for second degree murder, was convicted of first degree murder and assault by a jury last month. Their recommendation of a death penalty was heeded by Judge John D Oglesby, who put him on death row this past week.
At his sentencing, an adamant Crespo made it a point to tell officials that he was not gay and that he had warned corrections officers in 2013 that he was not compatible with Guerrero. "I had a restriction not to be housed with a [gay expletive]," he said.
His sentencing statement — he argued he did not want to be housed with a "gay" prisoner — did not stand up as a defense in a California court. California is one of eight states that has banned the gay and transgender "panic defense" where defendants claim they were motivated to commit the crime due to the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity.
While the current administration has changed parts of the 2012 Prison Rape Elimination Act to mandate that federal prisons assign transgender people housing and services based on their gender at the time of their birth — something the National Center for Transgender Equality maintains is illegal — the California Senate has passed a bill to ensure they are housed by current gender identity. However, that bill has not yet been signed into law.