FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 14, 2025
Man Arraigned for Murder and Arson in Connection With
2012 Cold Case Homicide of Trans Performer
Victim was Killed Before Her Apartment Was Set on Fire;
Defendant Connected to Crime through Phone Records and Surveillance Images
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, today announced that a Brooklyn man has been arraigned for the 2012 murder of a trans performer known as Lorena Escalera, who was found dead in her bed after her Bushwick building burned down. The defendant was indicted based on evidence that included surveillance images, phone records and other forensic evidence.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Ms. Escalera came to Brooklyn to pursue her dreams of becoming a performer, but her life was brutally snuffed out instead when she was only 25. The quest for justice lasted over a decade but today we are able to charge her alleged killer who we’ll now seek to hold fully responsible for this killing and the arson that put many other lives at risk. I hope that Ms. Escalera’s loved ones and friends will find a measure of solace knowing that this tragic murder has now been solved. In Brooklyn, we protect everyone, no matter who they are, who they love or where they came from.”
NYPD Commissioner Tisch said: “Let this indictment send a clear message to those living in fear for who they are: public safety does not discriminate, and every New Yorker deserves to feel safe at home. The horrific murder of Lorena Escalera, a beloved trans performer, devastated her Brooklyn neighbors and chosen LGBTQIA+ family, who continue to face the ongoing threat of hatred and violence. I commend the NYPD investigators and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office for their tireless efforts to bringing this heinous criminal one step closer to justice and offering a modicum of solace to Ms. Escalera’s family, friends, and loved ones within the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Henry Pacheco, 44, of Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Gershuny on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree murder, second- and third-degree arson and petit larceny. The defendant was ordered held without bail and to return to court on February 19, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
The District Attorney said that the victim was 25-year-old Lorelise Escalera Ferrer, who was known as Lorena Escalera or by her stage name Lorena Xtravaganza. According to the investigation, in the very early hours of May 12, 2012, she received multiple calls from the defendant.
Shortly after the last call, a few minutes past 2:20 a.m., surveillance video captured the defendant enter her building, 47 Furman Avenue in Bushwick, where she resided on the third floor. He was seen leaving the building over an hour later and minutes after that, a surveillance camera captured what appears to be smoke coming from the third-floor apartment. By 4 a.m., the building was consumed by heavy smoke and fire. Other residents were able to escape the blaze, but the victim was found lifeless on her bed. She was declared dead at the scene.
The Medical Examiner determined she was killed before the fire started and died of “homicidal violence of undetermined type.” The Fire Marshal concluded the fire started in the bed where she was discovered and that the fire was not natural nor accidental. A review of the victim’s phone records revealed that it received calls after she had been declared dead – and some calls were answered. Specifically, one of the answered calls came from an individual who knew the defendant and not the victim. Finally, the defendant confirmed last year that he is the person in the surveillance images from that early morning.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Steven Bravo, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.