Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado

Puerto Rico’s Attorney General has announced the creation of special committee to investigate hate crimes in the island territory, where advocates say gay and transgender people are the victims of an “epidemic” of violence. The announcement was greeted by cheers from activists who complain the government has yet to invoke 2002 legislation establishing harsher penalties […]

The man accused of the brutal murder of a gay teenager in Puerto Rico last November pleaded guilty on Wednesday and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Juan José Martínez Matos, who had been scheduled to go on trial Monday for the murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado, confessed to the crime during a […]

Puerto Rican authorities have agreed to investigate Jorge Steven López Mercado’s murder as a hate crime after they met with local representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Footage from the funeral of Jorge Steven López Mercado in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, on Monday shows his grief-stricken mother remembering the moment she accepted her son as gay. According to a translation provided by the blogger Blabbeando, Myriam Mercado recalls the moment an emotionally upset Steven told her he was gay. “Aw, son … […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The man charged with first-degree murder in the killing of a gay teenager in Puerto Rico will likely use “gay panic” as a defense, reports UPI. Juan A. Martinez Matos, 26, a married father of four (pictured), confessed he was cruising the “red light” district of Caguas, a city south […]

The suspect in the brutal slaying of a gay teenager in Puerto Rico will be charged Wednesday with first-degree murder and four other counts, the prosecutor in the case told CNN. Juan A. Martinez Matos was arrested late Monday in connection with the slaying of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado (pictured), whose decapitated, dismembered and partially […]

A suspect has been arrested in the slaying of a 19-year-old Puerto Rican man, police said Tuesday. Jorge Steven López Mercado (pictured) was found decapitated, dismembered and partially burned Friday in a wooded area near Cayey on the island of Puerto Rico. “The brutality of the slaying and the fact that he was openly gay […]

The body of a gay teenager was discovered this past weekend, found burned and decapitated on the island of Puerto Rico. Jorge Steven López Mercado’s body was found decapitated, dismembered and partially burned in a wooded area near Cayey on Friday, Nov. 13. His friends became concerned after he failed to meet them at a […]