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(CNN Spanish) - The United States Federal Court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will evaluate the hate crime accusations presented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) against Juan Carlos Pagán Bonilla Pagán, 21 years, and Sean Díaz de León, 19, for the murder of two transgender women.
Charges to be investigated by an investigative jury include car theft and gun law violations, according to the affidavit issued by the FBI. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, this is the first time that circumstances that could be classified as a violation of the Hate Crimes Law in the district of Puerto Rico have been included in a complaint.
The bodies of the victims, identified as Serena Angelique Velázquez and Layla Peláez Sánchez, were found burned inside a burned vehicle on April 22, on a highway in the municipality of Humacao, in the east of the island.
MIRA: The brutal murder of a transgender woman shocks Puerto Rico and renews a conversation about transphobia
Pagán Bonilla and De León Díaz were accused on May 1 before the Federal Court of the district of Puerto Rico of carrying and using a firearm during a violent crime, in connection with the death of the two transgender women.
Both suspects remain in custody. Lydia Lizarribar, a lawyer for Pagán Bonilla, declined to elaborate on the case "due to strictly complying with the ethical rules of the legal profession and the obligations towards my client." The defense of the other accused, Díaz De León, is in charge of the Office of the Federal Public Defender. CNN contacted them but so far no response has been received.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office reported that for each of the charges, the defendants could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
According to the press release issued by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the defendants decided to murder the two women after sharing with them because they "felt cheated" when they learned that they were both transgender.
One of the suspects would have admitted his participation in the crime "for reasons of revenge" by repudiating the gender identity of the victims, explained Captain Teddy Morales, director of the Criminal Investigations Corps of the Puerto Rico Police in Humacao, who directed preliminary investigation.
Morales added that his team complied with the requirements and the Hate Crimes Identification and Investigations Manual.
W. Stephen Muldrow, federal prosecutor for the district of Puerto Rico, stated that hate crimes are especially reprehensible because of the effects they have on victims, their families and communities discriminated on the basis of gender or sexual orientation.
"This is why the Federal Prosecutor's Office agrees to use all the tools at its disposal to combat crimes motivated by this type of intolerance," said Muldrow.
For its part, the Comprehensive Committee for the Search for Equity (CABE) on the island asked the federal authorities to refrain from imposing the death penalty on suspects.
CABE spokespersons also asked state and federal authorities to clarify seven other cases of LGBTQ people who were murdered in the last 15 months in Puerto Rico.
The Commissioner of the Puerto Rico Police, Henry Escalera, assures that "we have general orders and procedures that guide officers on how to intervene with members of the LGBTQ community, as well as victims of crime."
The director of the FBI in Puerto Rico, Rafael Riviere, expressed his support for members of the LBGTQ community. "We have heard their claims and the FBI understands their distress. We are with you and we fight with you, because Puerto Rico belongs to everyone, ”said
Riviere.