On May 29, the Bogotá health secretary’s office said in a statement that a companion of Monocuco signed a waiver which kept paramedics from transferring her.

Sobre el fallecimiento de una mujer trans reportada en la madrugada de este viernes, la Secretaría Distrital de Salud se permite informar: pic.twitter.com/264lFoK4Ua

— Secretaría Distrital de Salud (@SectorSalud) May 29, 2020

District Health Secretary Alejandro Gómez apologized and said the waiver doesn't exist, but his office said in another statement Monocuco herself asked not to be transferred, a claim heavily refuted by Alarcón and other friends.

City officials said the process to remove Monocuco’s body was slow because there was no relative to register her death and that the city needed additional paperwork to circumvent the usual procedure.

Although the city says it followed proper COVID-19-related death protocol, which included cremating Monocuco's body, attorney Jorge Perdomo said her death certificate mentioned nothing about her having the disease. According to Perdomo, the city’s decision to cremate Monocuco is an indication of “irregularities” within the city’s accountability system.

Without a body to study, health officials are doubtful that clearer answers will present themselves in Monocuco’s case. Her family said they never imagined she would lose her life due to discrimination.

“What happened to [her] was terrible,” Monocuco’s sister Isbelia Cardona Ruidiaz said. “I never thought my [sister] would die in that sad way for being trans and because [she] had HIV.”

According to Ruidiaz, the family hadn’t received any news until the city called about picking up Monocuco’s ashes.

On June 26, the city's health secretary's office launched three investigations into Monocuco’s death evaluation.

Columbia’s inspector general also opened an investigation into the case that could result in disciplinary actions, like removal from roles or criminal charges. If charges are brought against those who contributed to Monocuco’s death, lawyer Daniela Diaz told BuzzFeed it would be the first time a Columbian public official was criminally charged for discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

In New York, members of two law enforcement agencies were held responsible for their involvement in cases of discrimination against trans people.

As Blavity previously reported, a total of 17 corrections officers are being disciplined for the death of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco, a transgender woman who died from a seizure in solitary confinement on Rikers Island on June 7, 2019.

After Polanco was removed from a housing unit for trans women and sentenced to 20 days in solitary confinement, she began showing signs of mental distress. During this time, stationed officers said she attacked one of their colleagues, and Polanco was subsequently sent to Elmhurst Hospital. After nine days, she returned to Rikers Island, where she died in solitary confinement after suffering an epileptic seizure.

Three officers and one captain have been suspended without pay, while the punishments for the other 13 officers being held responsible have yet to be released, NBC News reports.

After he said he was violated by members of the New York Police Department last year, a Black trans man is suing the department for $5 million in damages. Jamel Young, an Army veteran, was pulled over on March 29, 2019, by police for not having a license plate sticker. While he was being arrested for having a gun registered in Georgia, Young said was ridiculed by officers once he informed them that he was transgender. The suit states that an officer aggressively groped his chest and genital area during searches as his peers watched and laughed.

“I felt worthless. I felt like all those triggers that trans people try so hard to manage throughout the transition, all of it just exploded," Young told BuzzFeed.

Alejandra-Monocuco

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week