Veronica Oliveira ("Mãe Loira")
Age 4012 Dec 2019
Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
Stabbed
TDoR list ref: tgeu/12-Dec-2019/Veronica de Oliveira
Veronica was stabbed in the early hours of Thursday 12th December. She was the founder of a transgender women's housing project in her neighborhood.
Residents of the Urlândia neighborhood, in the southern Santa Maria region, and the LGBTQ + community are disgusted by the death of Veronica Oliveira, 40 , murdered in the early hours of Thursday on Avenida Borges de Medeiros [and Avenida Presidente Vargas] in the Nossa Senhora de Fátima neighborhood. In social networks, those who met Veronica or her work, expressed regretting the crime and remembering her life.
According to the report, Veronica's colleagues who were at the scene said that a man arrived by car and offered them $50 to make a program [have sex] with him. After they refused, the man called Veronica, who was among the group, and when she approached the vehicle he stabbed her.
Veronica was the founder of a transgender women's housing project in the neighborhood. Veronica Alojamento was created 13 years ago and is considered a reference in Santa Maria and the state, being the only one in the city. There, she welcomed transgender women who are often expelled from home by their family and come from various locations across the country. Today about 20 girls live in the accommodation.
Marquita Quevedo, founder of the NGO Equality and friend of Veronica, says that the victim's friends and family are outraged by the violent death:
"It was another big loss for the trans movement. A pitiful loss. Today we live in fear of leaving home. Every time one of us leaves home, he doesn't know if he's coming back. The climate has long been insecure in the city, especially for night workers. People find themselves entitled to kill a woman at night just because they don't accept to do a program. This is very revolting".
Marquita recalls that Veronica was known by the affectionate nickname of Mãe Loira ["Blonde Mother"], as she welcomed and took care of all of the transsexual girls in the accommodation.
Veronica was the third trans person to be murdered in Santa Maria in 2019, the others being Carolline Dias and Nemer da Silva Rodrigues on 7th September. After the previous two murders, Veronica had participated in a protest calling for justice and an end to homophobia.
Veronica's Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/veronica.alojamento.
Two days after the murder Gabriel Zanella, 28, was arrested by police and reportedly confessed to killing Veronica.
https://ponte.org/mataram-veronica-a-mae-loira-da-populacao-trans-de-santa-maria-rs/
http://www.jornaldogarcia.com.br/preso-o-suspeito-de-matar-trans-em-santa-maria/
https://radiomedianeira.com.br/102-7/nesta-madrugada-transexual-e-morta-a-facadas-em-santa-maria/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pgmreal/permalink/3323078731098738/