Arrest made in the murder of Transgender Santa Ana resident Carla Salazar 25 years after her death

Santa Ana, CA– On Thursday, December 09, 2014 the Santa Ana police department made an arrest in the cold case of Carla Salazar, a Santa Ana transgender woman that took place in the summer of 1989. Carla Salazar was found stabbed to death in her Santa Ana apartment; the case remained cold until DNA evidence linked the suspect to the scene of the crime. This arrest is the first by the newly formed Orange County Cold Case Homicide Task Force. Details surrounding the case have not been released and it still remains unclear if the murder was related to the victim’s gender identity. Tony Viramontes, Director of Prevention Services at the LGBTQ Center OC said, “If yesterday were today in terms of transgender community visibility, support and advocacy, I feel that this case would not have gone cold. The connections between transgender individuals that the LGBTQ Center OC has created within its support groups work to ensure that each transgender individual is valued and accounted for”.

The Department of Justice recently issued a memorandum that states gender identity/transgender status is a protected category under sex in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, providing an enhanced degree of protection for the Transgender community, protections that they have always deserved as American citizens. LGBTQ Center OC Director of Advocacy and Youth Programs Laura Kanter, said, “This is a significant step forward. This crime proves, however, that transgender people must be fully protected by a federal nondiscrimination law”.

The LGBTQ Center OC spoke with police chiefs from Santa Ana, Anaheim and Huntington Beach and will be engaging in further discussions about violence against Transgender people in Orange County and we will continue to advocate for a fully inclusive federal non-discrimination law. Staff also reached out to Carla Salazar’s widow and offered support.