A Norcross man was convicted of murdering a transgender woman inside her Brookhaven apartment, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office announced.
“On Thursday, October 10, jurors found Pedro Silva-Renteria, 21, guilty on charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, stemming from the shooting death of Sophie Vasquez, 36, on May 4, 2021,” the DA’s office said in a press release.
Brookhaven Police responded to the apartment on Windmont Drive after 8 a.m. on May 4. They found Vasquez face down on the floor near the front door of her apartment. She’d been shot multiple times.
A neighbor told police they heard gunshots around 3:45 a.m. and another neighbor had doorbell camera footage showing a man arrive at the apartment around 2:50 a.m. He left at 3:20 a.m. and returned around 3:45 a.m.
Police found Vasquez and Silva-Renteria were communicating via cell phone, but she stopped replying to him. She responded to him on the night of May 3 and gave him her address. A search warrant executed at Silva-Renteria’s parents’ home uncovered clothing matching the clothing worn by the man in the surveillance camera footage, as well as the murder weapon.
Silva-Renteria fled to Texas but was arrested on Aug. 5.
“During the trial, Defendant Silva-Renteria’s defense team tried to argue that he shot Vasquez out of fear once he learned she was a transgender woman,” the DA’s Office said. “However, social media messages showed Vasquez was proud of her identity and had disclosed to Silva-Renteria several times that she was a trans woman.”
