Gay Puerto Rican teenager Jorge Steven Lopez's body was found decapitated, dismembered and partially burned in a murder scene which has sent shockwaves across the island. Brutally killed: Jorge Steven Lopez Friends became concerned after the 19-year-old didn't turn up to meet them at a popular gay nightclub at the weekend. "The last thing we said to each other was that we would meet at a club and he would come with other friends... but he never came," Lopez's friend Luis Rivera told local media. A 28-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murder, and police are looking at the possibility that it was a homophobic hate crime. However, one report suggests a police agent handling the investigation stated that people who lead "this type of lifestyle" need to be aware of the risks. Shocked and angered LGBT groups across Puerto Rico are planning events in Lopez's honour. A virgil for him will also be held in New York City this Sunday. "There's now a call to action," says Pedro Julio Serrano of a local LGBT group. "In the 12 years of activism I've been involved with in Puerto Rico, I have never seen the anger, the indignation and the pain and shock that I've seen with this."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 18th November 2009 - 9:39am