The LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico called on federal and state authorities to investigate all possible angles behind the murder of 27-year-old Egaldo José Oquendo Rodríguez, who was killed in the early morning of June 20 of this year. Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the federation, said in a press release that the family recently informed them Oquendo Rodríguez was a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Citing protocols followed by the Police and the FBI, Serrano requested that investigators examine all angles, including hate crime and gender-based violence. Oquendo Rodríguez’s body was found shot in an abandoned structure located on Calle José Abad, Avenida 65 de Infantería, in Río Piedras. Serrano noted that authorities rarely identify LGBTQ+ victims in their incident reports, and that it is usually the community itself or victims’ families who provide that identification, which he called a key piece of information for clarifying cases and achieving justice.