Erin Rook

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Killer of Transgender Teen Gwen Araujo Granted Parole After 14 Years

  Gwen Araujo One of the men convicted in the brutal 2002 murder of a transgender teen has been approved for parole after serving 14 years in prison, NBC Bay Area reports. Jose Merél was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2002 beating death of Gwen Araujo, in which he and another young man killed the 17-year-old after discovering she was transgender. Merél was sentenced to 15 years to life. The parole approval is the first step in a five-month process leading to his release from custody. The night Araujo was murdered, she attended a party at Merél’s home. At the party, Araujo was […]

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Transgender Woman Settles in Court After Profiling Landed Her in Jail

  A Black transgender woman who spent 8 days in jail after being falsely accused of prostitution by the hotel she was staying at has settled her lawsuit against the Iowa hotel in court, The Guardian reports. The details of the settlement have not been released due to a confidentiality agreement. Meagan Taylor checked into the Drury Inn in West Des Moines, Iowa, last July with a friend—also a Black transgender woman—during a trip to Kansas City for a funeral. But despite the somber, and fairly typical, reason for their stay, hotel staff called police to report that the two women were “two […]