Daiken Fernandez was arrested on two counts of felony battery over the November 26 incident, which despatched the 2 girls to Jackson Memorial Hospital with extreme head accidents. Fernandez obtained a hate crime enhancement that prosecutors use for offenses they declare are motivated by prejudice in opposition to sexual orientation or gender.
Fernandez, 25, was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on the night of Wednesday, December 27, and remained within the jail as of early Thursday morning.
LGBTQ communities in South Florida and past have been rattled by video that captured a part of the incident, together with the second when Fernandez allegedly decked the transgender girl, who was sporting a white gown and excessive heels. In the aftermath, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava mentioned, “These acts warrant a full investigation.”
Witness Kaci Melendez says her shut good friend, the trans sufferer, continues to be shaken by the encounter and left Florida for the vacations to distance herself from the trauma.
“She cannot even do all of the issues she wished to do for Christmas and New Year’s as a result of she’s freaking out fascinated by how these guys dwell close to her,” Melendez tells New Times.
The incident came about after Melendez and her associates left the rooftop “White Party,” a soiree hosted by the LGBTQ manufacturing firm Pandora Events. Melendez instructed police {that a} man from Fernandez’s group made offensive catcalling feedback, triggering a tense verbal dispute through which insults flew forwards and backwards.
The first assault sufferer instructed the catcaller that she was together with her spouse and that his feedback have been out of line. In the argument that adopted, he insisted they might by no means obtain an excellent “dicking” as a result of they’re lesbians, Melendez mentioned.
The police report states that Fernandez then turned violent and punched the primary sufferer after she made a comment suggesting he had a “small penis.” She hit her head on the concrete and was left splayed out on the bottom, with blood spouting from her head.
A battle then broke out between Fernandez and a person from the sufferer’s group, who was sticking up for the injured girl and attempting to forestall the assailant from leaving the world, the report states. During the tussle, Fernandez and one other member of his clique, Jorge Estevez, punched and injured the transgender girl. According to Melendez, the trans sufferer was attempting to interrupt up the battle and was not taking part within the violence.
Estevez, 33, was arrested on a single cost of battery. He was booked into Turner Guilford just a few hours earlier than Fernandez. Estevez instructed police he was performing in self-defense as soon as the battle broke out.
County information point out each Fernandez and Estevez obtained a felony cost enhancement below Florida’s Chapter 775.085 statute, which covers crime that “evidences prejudice primarily based on the race, colour, ancestry, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, nationwide origin, homeless standing, or superior age.” The regulation usually elevates an offense by one degree, so {that a} first-degree misdemeanor would turn into a third-degree felony, and a third-degree felony would turn into a second-degree felony.
The police report signifies that when interviewed by detectives, the victims’ group of associates centered on statements made about their LGBTQ background. Fernandez allegedly made a remark concerning the trans sufferer’s genitalia after Fernandez turned upset by the quip insulting his penis dimension.
“Officers contacted a number of witnesses who acknowledged {that a} battle broke out with a gaggle of males as a consequence of a verbal argument concerning the victims’ sexual choice,” the police report reads.
Jackson Memorial handled the primary sufferer for a extreme concussion and a laceration that required a number of stitches. The trans sufferer reportedly suffered head accidents and in depth bruising.
The Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office confirmed that the alleged assault was charged below the hate-crime statute.
Melendez says she’s been reluctant to attend LGBTQ occasions for the reason that incident. She says that witnessing the assault — mixed with illiberal feedback she’s obtained in current months and the political environment stigmatizing LGBTQ folks in Florida — has compelled her to maneuver out of the state. Â
“You will not catch me at satisfaction occasions in Florida within the close to future. I’ve anxiousness that I’ve by no means felt earlier than. I’ve by no means felt this concern about my private well-being in Miami till this 12 months. I really feel like anyplace I am going, the place I’m open about being a lesbian, there’s hate. The haters have all the time been there, however now it feels just like the tide has turned,” Melendez says.
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