Man guilty of hate crime, first-degree murder in transgender slaying

Zapata met Andrade, a convicted felon from Thornton, on a social-networking website in July, according to the arrest affidavit. On July 16, they went on a date, Andrade said, and Zapata performed oral sex on him but would not permit him to touch her. According to the affidavit, Andrade said he became suspicious about Zapata's gender, grabbed her crotch and learned the truth. In a rage, he said, he beat her to death with a fire extinguisher.

Andrade's attorneys referred to Zapata by her given name, Justin, and contended that their client had reacted due to shock at the sexual deceit.

But prosecutors, who referred to the deceased as "she" and "Angie," said that the two had met via a website that catered to gay and transgendered people and that the couple had known each other for three days -- plenty of time for Andrade to understand Angie's biological gender. They noted that Andrade had accompanied her to traffic court, where clerks called her Justin.

Prosecutors said Andrade was a homophobe who preyed on Zapata and pointed to recorded calls he made from jail in which he called the victim "it" and said: "Someone living like that needs to be held accountable."

Defense attorney Annette Kundelius did not return a call for comment. During the trial, she told jurors that Andrade had been joking.

"Was it in poor taste? Was it a smart thing to say?" Kundelius said. "No. But it doesn't mean he committed murder."

Andrade did not testify. When the judge asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, he responded, "No."

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nicholas.riccardi@latimes.com

DeeDee Correll contributed to this report.