Santa Tecam wept quietly as she hugged the clear plastic folder containing the photos to her chest.
A snapshot of her daughter Emily Garcia was how Tecum wanted to remember her. She laughed, smiled, danced to banda music, and her makeup was as perfect as ever. Lying in her coffin at a public viewing after her sudden death this year was not the last time we saw Garcia.
“It was very difficult and very, very sad,” Tecum said through a Spanish interpreter in a recent interview with the Times. “Emily always gave me a hug when she saw me. She was always loving like that.”
Garcia, 25, was found dead on a Tuesday in mid-October in his truck parked outside the Hollywood Shelter in the 1200 block of Roddy Place, where he lived. Another person was also found dead inside the car.
Los Angeles police said a preliminary investigation shows Garcia died of a drug overdose and no foul play is suspected, but the case remains open and family and friends are still looking for answers.
Their petitions have been raised in city council meetings and on social media, with supporters saying the deaths of transgender people are too often ignored by elected officials and the media. Tecam and her two other daughters stood next to Councilman Hugo Sotomartínez at City Hall last month as he honored Garcia on Trans Remembrance Day.
He said she came to the United States as an “unaccompanied minor” but faced “unimaginable challenges with fierce resilience, courage and determination” as a young trans Latina living in Los Angeles. .
Authorities counted a record number of hate crimes across Los Angeles County last year. According to Los Angeles Police Department statistics, there were 69 incidents in 2023 where transgender victims were reported, up from 54 the previous year.
Transgender people and transgender advocates across the country say they fear for their safety after the election of Donald Trump, who has waged a fierce anti-trans campaign while pledging to carry out mass deportations. are.
Garcia’s death was a stark reminder of the challenges she and other transgender people have to overcome, said her sister, Maria Touch. “Behind all her joy and happiness was sadness due to the discrimination she faced from humanity and others based primarily on who she was.”
Ms Touch said her sister’s death had been difficult for her entire close-knit family.
Although Garcia grew up poor, he is finally finding his footing in life, his sister said. She found purpose and community while working as an advocate for TransLatin@ Coalition, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group that supports transgender immigrants. She was scheduled to start a new marketing job the day before her body was discovered. Garcia dreams of becoming financially independent and finding her own apartment, and a wage of about $28 an hour would have helped her reach that goal, Touch said.
She also has U.S. citizenship, and her mother worked to help her “get the paperwork,” Touch said.
She described her sister as “very caring and loving.”
“Even when we would fight, she would say, ‘Come here and hug me,'” she said.
Touch said that weekends were a time for the two to play together. Garcia taught her how to apply lip liner and foundation and gave her fashion advice on their frequent shopping trips.
“I used to wear any shoes,” she said, recalling Garcia gently chiding her about her appearance, telling her that she should “express herself and try to dress nice.” However, Mr. Touch said.
Garcia’s sister said he always jokingly told them that he would rather die than appear humble.
“She was always full of energy and joy, and now she’s no longer here,” Touch said.
Tecum said Garcia was a loving daughter who called her regularly to check on her.
“She said, ‘Do you love me for who I am?’ And I said, ‘Well, if you don’t, I won’t answer your phone,'” Tekum said.
That’s why Tecum became worried when he didn’t hear from Garcia for a while.
The weekend before her body was found, Garcia had gotten a pass from the shelter to attend a baby shower. She then went out with friends, some of whom told her family they had received messages from her by Sunday.
About 48 hours later, on Oct. 15, a security guard found her and another person in the truck, police said.
They were riding in a truck parked outside Los Angeles’ landmark Hollywood Studios Club. The club opened nearly 100 years ago as a home for women who wanted to work in the then-fledgling film industry. Most recently, it has become a shelter that includes trans women. The truck’s windows were tinted, which police say may explain why it took two days to find the body.
Police said officers at the scene found a white powdery substance similar to fentanyl, but the results of a toxicology report are still pending. There were no physical injuries to Garcia or anyone found with him, suggesting a drug overdose, police said.
It is standard for homicide detectives to investigate overdoses that result in two or more deaths and cases where minors are involved. Tyler Adams, supervisor of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Western Division Homicide Division, said Garcia’s death appeared to be accidental.
“Of course we’re open to other possibilities,” Adams said.
Byron Jose, police and advocacy strategist for the TransLatin@ Coalition, said advocates are speaking to people in shelters and reaching out to local city halls and the Los Angeles Police Department. Garcia’s family is asking the shelter for security video recordings in hopes of providing more answers.
Touch said her sister was not known to use drugs.
“It’s hard to accept because I don’t think it was an overdose,” she said. “And we will be reaching out to authorities again to ensure a thorough investigation.”
Touch said she also found it suspicious that Garcia was found wearing sweatpants, and said her sister took great pride in her appearance.
Asked about Garcia’s family’s denial of the overdose theory, the detective said: “It’s hard to accept because he’s a loved one, but the best thing I can do is answer the questions and be honest.” said.
Public health officials announced earlier this year that the number of drug overdose deaths in 2023 has hit a plateau at 3,092 people countywide. This is the first time in 10 years that the number of deaths has not continued to increase year-on-year.
Touch said she was grateful to the Los Angeles Police Department for meeting with her and reviewing the facts of the case. However, she said much remains unknown about what happened to her sister.
More and more questions were growing in her mind. Were there other people in the truck with Garcia and that person? Why hasn’t the Medical Examiner’s Office released her wallet and other personal items yet? And why didn’t someone at the shelter notice that Garcia hadn’t checked in again?
Garcia has struggled to find stable housing and discussed the issue on the TransLatin@ Coalition’s podcast about how the homeless shelter system is failing transgender people.
Touch said as she went through her sister’s cell phone after her death, she was shocked and angered by the level of harassment her sister received as a trans woman.
“When people say to her, ‘I know you’re still a man,’ she sees the message, ‘No, I’m a young woman,'” she says.
She said the message led her to believe that someone could harm her sister.
“I don’t know if it was revenge or revenge,” Touch said. “She was always proud and outspoken about being a transgender woman.”
