Mom of Slain Cross-Dresser Recalls His Pain

Nov. 26 -- Sylvia Guerrero says her oldest son — a 17-year-old boy who dressed like a girl and lived in two worlds — was killed simply for being different.

Eddie Araujo and his family lived in Newark, Calif., a middle-class town of working families 35 miles east of San Francisco. Guerrero, who was raising her four children, said her son took a lot of abuse from other children.

"Kids teased him — called him fag, beat him up, looked at him different," Guerrero said. "He felt like he wasn't normal and that was very hurtful to me."

Police believe that Araujo's habit of cross-dressing, which he started in his teens, led to his death.

On Oct. 3, Araujo showed up at a house party in Newark dressed as a girl, wearing a skirt and shirt. He often went by the names "Gwen" or "Lida." At the party, Araujo had sexual relations with three men, who became enraged when they realized he was a boy, police said. Three men — Michael Magidson, 22, Jason Chase Nabors, 19, and Jose Merel, 24 — face murder charges in his death. A fourth man, Jason Cazares, 22, was also arrested last week on suspicion of murder, though police have not revealed his alleged role.

‘I’m Not Normal’

While he was growing up, and especially as he got into his teens, Araujo struggled with his identity, his mother said.

When Araujo used to say, "Mom I'm not normal," his mother always had the same response.

"I'd say, 'Yes you are. You're a child and you're my child,'" she said.

As a little boy, Araujo liked to do the things that other little boys enjoyed, and he was well-known and well-liked.

"I talked to some officers that remembered Eddie when he was young enough to be trading Pokemon cards," said Lt. Lance Morrison of the Newark Police Department.

Araujo also played Little League baseball, and "he was very good at it, but he was teased," Guerrero said.

"He was different," she said. "He was soft-spoken. He was gentle. He was more sensitive."