MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The man charged with the brutal killing of a homeless transgender woman went before a judge on Thursday.
Gregory Gibert was given no bond, charged with the murder of Andrea Dospassos, who was beaten to death early Tuesday morning while she slept in front of a building in Miami Beach.
A vigil was held for Dospassos at Pridelines, located at 1130 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach, at 6:30 p.m.
“We have no idea she connected with you guys, it gave me so much peace that she had a community,” said Ana Van Gilst, Dospassos’ mother. “You don’t expect something...It’s like things you see in the movies, you don’t expect this to happen to you.”
A bunch of Dospasso’s loved ones gathered not to just focus on the tragedy but to reflect on their moments with her.
“This was a beautiful person,” said an attendee. “She was someone who loved going to the beach.”
Gibert has a long criminal history in Miami-Dade County.
Most recently, he was out on probation after pleading guilty to attempted armed robbery, and aggravated battery.
A close-out memo provided by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office details the crime, and what led to Gibert’s plea offer.
The state says Gibert approached a man in May of last year while carrying something sharp and demanded he get off a scooter.
The two argued, and at one point, Gibert threw rocks at the victim. He wasn’t hurt, and Gibert was arrested. The state cites multiple reasons for why the case collapsed, including that, “the civilian witness failed to appear for three separate depositions” and that, “due to statements made by the victim during deposition concerning identification and his testimony of the incident in conjunction with the evidence collected by law enforcement…”, they came to Gibert with a plea deal.
On April 15, Judge Andrea Wolfson ruled he should get credit for the year he spent behind bars. The result? No new jail time, and four years’ probation.
Eight days after the deal went into effect, Dospassos was killed.
“I just don’t understand why someone would do that,” said Van Gilst. “She never hurt someone in her life.”
Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones released a statement on the murder, which can be read in the social media post below:
A message from Chief Wayne Jones: pic.twitter.com/5AxD7IXxVO
— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) April 24, 2024
In a statement, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said, in part:
“This case is further evidence that individuals need to be held accountable for prior violent crimes for the protection of the public.”
Gibert will be in court again on Friday for a pretrial detention hearing and a probation violation hearing.