CRIME
Arrests in NY Trans Women’s Murders in Puerto Rico
Police considering hate crime charges as activists demand justice for victims
BY MATT TRACY
Authorities in Puerto Rico have made
a pair of arrests in the murders of
two transgender women from New
York whose burned bodies were
found on the island April 22.
Juan Carlos Pagán Bonilla, 21, and Sean
Díaz de León, 19, were arrested on April 29,
and the FBI has fi led a criminal complaint
charging the two men with murder under the
federal hate crime law. The arrests came one
week to the day after 21-year-old Layla Peláez,
of the Bronx, and 32-year-old Serena Angelique
Velázquez, of Queens, were found in a burned
car under a bridge on a remote road in Humacao,
which is on the eastern side of the island.
The women had been visiting their hometown
in Puerto Rico at the time of their deaths.
Pagán confessed to having a role in the killings,
Puerto Rican LGBTQ activist Pedro Julio
Serrano told Gay City News on May 1, and Diaz
turned himself in.
According to the FBI charging affi davit, the
alleged killers shot the two women to death and
FACEBOOK/ SERENA ANGELIQUE VELÁZQUEZ
Serena Angelique Velázquez, a 32-year-old resident of Queens, was
one of two transgender women who were murdered in Puerto Rico
on April 22.
later burned the car they were driving in together,
which belonged to one of the victims.
Pagán and Diaz were with the women hours
before they were found dead and they were
featured in a recording on one of the women’s
social media accounts, investigators said. Authorities
are utilizing surveillance video footage
and “scientifi c evidence” to make their case.
The Times reported that Captain Teddy Morales,
who leads criminal investigations in the
Humacao region, approached the case as a hate
crime from the start and brought in the FBI because
authorities concluded the men set out to
kill the victims after having sex with them and
then learning they were transgender.
According to the FBI affi davit, when Diaz
learned that the woman he had sex with was
transgender he was “angry,” telling Pagán he
wanted to kill her. When Pagán learned that
the other woman was also transgender, he said
he was “disgusted,” according to the FBI.
Following the arrests, Serrano expressed
some cautious optimism that justice will be
done but pressed for a thorough probe of the
case, reminding authorities to be fair in their
prosecution.
➤ MURDERS IN PUERTO RICO, continued on p.25
HEALTH
Pharma Company Jacks Up Price of HIV Drug
Treatment advocacy group says increase in price of anti-diarrhea drug is not justifi ed
BY MATT TRACY
A pharmaceutical company
that produces
an anti-diarrhea drug
to treat side effects of
HIV/ AIDS medication raised the
price on that drug by more than
three times after pushing it as an
option to treat diarrhea in coronavirus
patients.
Jaguar Health previously
charged $669 for 60 pills of Mytesi,
the brand name for crofelemer,
which is for individuals on antiretroviral
drugs including Remdisivir,
which can cause diarrhea. But the
price was increased to $2,206, Axios
reported.
There was speculation that
Remdesivir, which is produced by
Gilead, could have been an effective
treatment to help those fi ghting the
coronavirus. But those hopes were
initially dashed when Gilead announced
on April 23 that it ended
an experimental trial early after
there was not enough evidence to
support the drug’s ability to treat
the coronavirus. Since then, however,
medical experts are saying
that the drug can speed recovery
time even if no impact on mortality
has been shown.
In March, Jaguar Health sought
out FDA approval of Mytesi as a
way to treat coronavirus patients
suffering from “diarrhea associated
with certain antiviral treatments.”
An important question is whether
the price hike on Mytesi was motivated
by speculation that wider
distribution of Remdesivir could
have, in turn, generated strong demand
for Mytesi.
The timeline of Jaguar Health’s
actions sheds some light on that
question, but not much. While the
price of the drug was not raised until
April 9, two days after the FDA
turned down Jaguar Health’s application
for approval of the drug,
the company remains in talks with
the National Institutes of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases regarding
Mytesi and its possible use in the
fi ght against the coronavirus, according
to Axios.
In an email, Jaguar Health told
Gay City News that the decision to
raise the price of Mytesi was made
before the coronavirus outbreak
in order “to support our efforts to
remain a fi nancially sustainable
company and to continue providing
Mytesi to HIV patients in need.”
Speaking to Axios, Jaguar
Health CEO Lisa Conte blamed
health insurance companies for
keeping the drug out of reach for
consumers.
“The reimbursement barriers
are so huge,” Conte told Axios. “It’s
impossible for us to make a business
out of it,” Conte said.
Jaguar Health has been facing
fi nancial strain as of late, according
to the company’s own statements
and tax documents indicating
that the company’s future is in
serious jeopardy.
“The company, since its inception,
has incurred recurring operating
losses and negative cash fl ows
from operations and has an accumulated
defi cit of $133.0 million
as of December 31, 2019,” Jaguar
Health documents recently fi led
with the federal Securities and Exchange
Commission stated. “The
company expects to incur substantial
losses and negative cash
fl ows in future periods. Further,
the company’s future operations
➤ JAGUAR HEALTH, continued on p.25
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