BRIGHTON -- At least 200 people gathered on Wednesday night to mourn an 18-year-old transgender person who was apparently beaten to death last week.
Justin Zapata, who went by the name Angie Zapata and was living as a woman, was found dead in a Greeley apartment in the 2000 block of 4th Street on July 17.
She had fatal wounds to her head and face.
Greeley Police say they don't have the evidence to definitively call Zapata's murder a hate crime, but they are not ruling it out.
Her family and friends remain convinced that was the reason she was killed.
"Why would anybody, you would dare do something like that? Why?" said Alicia Portillo, one of Zapata's friends.
Zapata's funeral service was held Wednesday night in Brighton.
Police believe they are getting close to a suspect.
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Tags: hate crime transgender Angie Zapata Justin
