Suspects in Murder of Trans Women Arrested in Puerto Rico

There are still seven unsolved hate crimes that have taken place on the island in the past 15 months alone.

Two young men have been arrested by the local police as suspects for the murders of Serena Velázquez (32) and Layla Peláez (21) who were burned to death last week.

Juan C. Pagán Bonilla (21) and Sean Díaz De León (19) are under custody and being interrogated this afternoon. They are both residents of Juncos, a municipality only a few miles away from where the horrific scene took place in Humacao, on the East side of the island.

RELATED: Trans People Are Being Hunted In Puerto Rico. It’s About Damn Time To Do Something To Stop It.

Captain Teddy Morales from the Cuerpo de Investigaciones Criminales (CIC) released a statement with the details of the capture and the names of the suspects. Morales stated that one of the suspects confessed the motive was “revenge.”

This crime has been investigated by the authorities as a hate crime, Primera Hora reports.

Activist Pedro Julio Serrano reacted to the news of these arrests via Twitter.

Serena Angelique was a resident of Queens, New York that was vacationing in Puerto Rico for the past weeks. Her death and Layla’s marked the fifth life lost to hate in Puerto Rico, since February.

This is a developing story.

RELATED: Murdered Trans Women Are Third and Fourth Trans People Killed in Puerto Rico since February