Suspect arrested in a brutal murder of a trans woman who was thrown into a stream in Colombia

The Colombian police arrested a suspect on Wednesday in the brutal murder of a transgender woman who was thrown into a stream with broken limbs in a hate crime that caused angry protests in the South American country.

Sara Millerey, 32, died at the hospital after firefighters took her out of the stream, but not before the passers -by filmed a video of her drowning, and distributed it online.

The attack, which occurred in Bello, near the western city of Medellin in the department of Antioquia, has caused a lot of shock and anger and fed fear in the trans community.

Sandra Borja, Sara’s mother, told El Pais that she was with her daughter in her last moments.

“I knelt and hugged her and told her that I loved her a lot,” he told the newspaper. “I told her that I was going to be with God, because no one in heaven was going to humiliate or discriminate against her.”

Police said Wednesday that he had arrested a first suspect, a member of a gang, who now faces charges of aggravated torture and homicide, and risks 70 years in prison.

President Gustavo Petro has condemned the crime that, according to him, was committed by “ignorant people” trying to “erase differences” between people.

The Office of the Ombudsman in Colombia said that 13 trans women have been killed in the country so far this year. However, Washington’s office in Latin America, citing data from the Caribbean NGO state, reported that more than 24 LGBTQ+ people have been killed in Colombia so far in 2025.

“This figure is a careless since many cases LGBTQ+ are not designated as such,” the organization said.

In all 2024, the official number was 31.

The Office of the Ombudsman also reported 258 cases of violence against members of the LGBTQI+ community last year, a 23 % increase in 2023.

There has been an increase particularly in Antioquia, the birthplace of the famous drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, according to Caribbean affirming.

Hate crimes in the region “represent almost half of the national total,” he said.

Congress is discussing a bill that seeks to strengthen the rights of transgender people and harden sanctions for hate crimes committed against them.

In:
• Colombia
• Transgender
• Murder