The Crime
Content Note: violence, transgender person, homelessness, mental illness. Please note that the description of the murder is graphic and vicious.
Andrea Doria Dos Passos was a 37 year old Latina trans woman. She was homeless, sleeping outside the Miami City Ballet building in Miami Beach on April 22, 2024 when she was brutally murdered.
Around 6:46 AM, a worker at te ballet found Passos’ body with massive trauma to her face and head. She was lying in a pool of blood, with lacerations on her face and two sticks jammed violently into her nostrils. An examination later found a puncture wound in Dos Passos’ chest them reports.
Video footage caught a man approaching the sleeping woman and allegedly then began beating Dos Passos with a metal pipe, dumping the pipe in a nearby trash can afterward. Some reports indicate he moved her body after the assault and then fled.
Gregory Fitzgerald Gibert, 53, was arrested later that day, charged with second degree murder, and is being held without bail in a local jail.
Police have already dismissed that this was a hate crime. I’m not sure how that can be ruled out in two days with s such a vicious crime. Still. …
Today in court, Judge Mindy S. Glazer upgraded the charge from second degree to first degree homicide. Someone in the judicial system took Andrea’s death seriously.
Honoring Andrea
Dos Passos’ stepfather spoke with a local CBS affiliate
“She had no chance to defend herself whatsoever. I don’t know if this was a hate crime since she was transgender or if she had some sort of interaction with this person because he might have been homeless as well. The detective could not say if she was attacked because she was transgender,” said Van Gilst. “She has been struggling with mental health issues for a long time, going back to when she was in her early 20s. We did everything we could to help her. My wife is devasted. For her, this is like a nightmare that turned into reality. Andrea moved around a lot and even lived in California for a while. She was sadly homeless. I feel the system let her down. She was a good person.”
One can assume that she had love and acceptance from her family. But not from her state government or this random stranger who treated her like prey.
Andrea’s mother told CBS News that she and her husband, Andrea’s stepfather, kept a room for her that she occasionally used. But Andrea was adamant about not having to comply with rules. According to her parents, Andrea had been struggling with mental health issues for 15+ years. That would put her in her early twenties.
She described Andrea as a friendly person who enjoyed interacting with people, but also fiercely guarded her freedom.
Andrea’s social media shows she admired a Reiki healer and yoga instructor. She had a red rose tattooed on her calf and another heart shaped tattoo on her arm.. She was a involved with Pridelines, a LGBTQ community organization in South Florida. They held a vigil for Andrea on Thursday evening.
“She was just a lovely person. She had some challenges that she was faced with and we were helping her with those challenges but she was just a light,” said Pridelines Executive Director Dr. Edward Summers. “We feel really personal about this. She was a member of our community.”
WSVN
The Context
Andrea could not access resources because there are not enough available in Miami and Florida as a whole. Existing resources are often not adaptable to the needs of the community. But the limited supply allows officials to avoid investing in creative and flexible solutions. The lack of will to care for neighbors experiencing these challenges is the ultimate culprit.
Andrea was asleep when she was attacked and murdered. She posed no threat. She sought refuge to simply sleep, a basic human need. Whether she chose to sleep rough or she had no other options, she was brutalized in her most vulnerable moment.
The system failed Andrea. It failed to protect her, provide the support she needed, and recognize her inherent dignity as a human being. This is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a larger problem of violence, hatred, and discrimination against transgender people. The systemic failures that led to Andrea’s death underscorethe urgent need for change. Transgender people, particularly those whoare Black and from minority communities, continue to face disproportionate levels of violence and discrimination.
Pridelines
Equality Florida senior political director Joe Saunders told the Herald that the “level of overkill” involved in Dos Passos’ beating and apparent torture “is often one of the hallmarks of hate-motivated violence.” Kristin Browde, vice president of the Democratic caucus Flamingo Democrats, called for officials to add a hate crime enhancement to the murder charge this week and accused Florida Republicans of having “emboldened” violence against trans people.
This statement has caused a kerfuffle among Florida Republican leaders. Too bad. It is entirely accurate to make this claim. Florida’s relentless anti-trans rhetoric coupled with their efforts to criminalize homelessness create a nightmare.
“Andrea’s blood is on the hands of those who spew hatred and malice without thinking of the consequences of their words and actions,” Browde wrote in a statement from Flamingo Democrats on Instagram.
Andrea Doria Dos Passos is the 13th person whose death is recorded in 2024. She is the seventh trans woman on this list, the sixth trans Latina person. Andrea is the fourth oldest person on the list. I believe Andrea is of Brazilian descent or at least partially so.
Over the pact years, Florida has seen a significant incidents of anti-trans violence. Alexa Sokova (30), Camdyn Rider (21), Duval Princess (24), Nedra Sequence Moss (50) Semaj Billingslea (33) Tiffany Banks (25) Alexus “Kimmy” Braxton (45) Keri Washington (49) Royal Poetical Starz (26) Jenny De Leon (25) Tony McDade (38) Bree Black (27) Skylar Heath (23). Andrea’s death brings the total to 15 trans people killed in Florida since 2020, one of the highest rates of fatal violence in the nation.
Her stepfather told WTVJ: “I think that the system let her down,” he said. “At this moment I also have the feeling that I let her down. Nobody deserves this. Nobody deserves this, to die like this.”
Rest in power, Andrea. It seems you brought kindness to a world that did not think you deserved reciprocity. Everyone says how friendly and fiercely independent you were. You changed the world around you by living your authentic life. Hopefully, the harsh realities of your death will further change the world. Thank you for being part of our lives.
May your memory be a revolution.
This is our list
This is our list of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming neighbors who have been victims of the campaign of terror in 2024. Please do not copy, modify, or share this list without attribution.
- Kitty Monroe – January 1, 2024. Phoenix, Arizona. Age 43.
- Nex Benedict – February 8, 2024. Owasso, Oklahoma. Age 16.
- Righteous Torrence ‘T K’ Chevy Hill – February 29, Atlanta. Georgia. Age 35.
- Reyna Hernandez – Between Feb 28 and March 28, location TBD. Age 54.
- Diamond Cherish Brigman – March 16, 2024, Houston, Texas. Age 36.
- Alex Franco – March 19, 2024. Salt Lake City, Utah. Age 21.
- Meraxes Medina – March 19, 2024, Los Angeles, California. Age 24.
- Cecilia Gentili – February 6, 2024, New YorkCity, New York. Age 52.
- Ryan Zimmerman – Sept 2015, Columbus OH Age 21 Murdered 2016, Identified 2020, reported 2024.
- Lagend Billions aka Tee Arnold – April 7, 2024, Miami, Ohio. Age 36.
- África Parrilla García – February 2, 2024, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Age 25.
- Nevaeh ‘River’ Goddard – April 5, 2024,. Stow, Massachusetts. Age 17,
- Andrea Doria Dos Passos – April 22, 2024, Miami, Florida. Age 37.
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