Prosecutor says gender-fluid Iowa teen was kidnapped, killed
Published 3:37 pm Thursday, October 26, 2017
KEOKUK, Iowa — A prosecutor says a gender-fluid Iowa teenager was kidnapped, suffocated and executed by two cousins who believed the teen was a cute girl.
Prosecutor Christopher Perras detailed the 2016 death of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson in opening statements Thursday at the trial of Jorge Sanders-Galvez.
Perras said Johnson “was a friendly high school student with a bright future” who sometimes dressed as a girl. Relatives say Johnson identified as both male and female.
Perras says Johnson was wearing a pink headband and hair extensions when Sanders-Galvez and his cousin saw the teen at a store.
Perras says the men followed Johnson in their car, then took the teen to a Burlington home. He says a struggle ensued during a sexual encounter, and the men suffocated Johnson, shot the teen and dumped the body in an alley.
Jorge Sanders-Galvez, left, is escorted from an elevator to the South Lee County Courtroom, during jury selection for his first-degree murder trial, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 in Keokuk, Iowa. Sanders-Galvez, is one of two men accused of killing Kedarie Johnson, 16, of Burlington, Iowa.
