The man accused in the brutal beating death of a transgender woman in Miami Beach made his first appearance before a judge on Thursday as family members are seeking answers in her killing.
Gregory Fitzgerald Gibert, 53, was initially arrested on a second-degree murder charge in the killing of 37-year-old Andrea Dorias Dos Passos, whose body was found Tuesday near the Miami City Ballet.
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After refusing to appear for a bond court appearance on Wednesday, Gibert went before Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer on Thursday by video, where Glazer found there was probable cause for a more serious charge.
"I've had a chance to review the arrest affidavit, to me it looks like it should be a first-degree murder not a second-degree, based on the facts alleged in this arrest affidavit where he allegedly struck the victim with a metal pipe about the head and face, and then it looks like he defiled the body by doing other things to the victim after she was deceased," Glazer said.
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Glazer ordered Gibert held without bond and appointed him a public defender.
An arrest report by Miami Beach Police said detectives found surveillance video that captured Gibert beating Dos Passos with a metal pipe as she was sleeping near the entrance of the building.
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Police noticed lacerations to her head and face, a puncture wound to her chest, and two wooden sticks lodged in her nostrils.
The surveillance video allegedly showed Gibert throwing the metal pipe in a nearby trash can before walking away, police said.
Detectives were able to retrieve the weapon and obtain fingerprints which helped detectives identify the suspect.
They tracked Gibert down to an address in Miami where he was found with bloodstained shoes and basketball shorts, the report said.
Records show Gibert was just released from jail last Wednesday, a week before this crime, where he was being held for armed robbery and aggravated assault. He was given four years of probation.
A memo obtained by NBC6 showed Miami-Dade prosecutors were seeking to have Gibert sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for attempting to rob a man of his moped.
But the prosecutor said the victim’s deposition revealed weaknesses in the case if it were to go to trial, and a corroborating witness repeatedly failed to appear.
So last week they agreed to let Gibert plead guilty, immediately get out of jail, and go on probation. A week later, he allegedly committed the murder.
The victim's stepfather spoke to NBC6 a day after Dos Passos was killed. Victor Van Gilst said his family is devastated.
"I knew one day this could happen," he said. "I need to go through the stages of anger and grief and denial and acceptance and all that."
Police said Gibert refused to cooperate with investigators so a motive for the killing was unknown.
"No evidence alludes to the fact that this was a hate crime. The evidence does not allude to the fact that the defendant targeted the victim based off her sexual orientation and or her gender," Miami Beach Police spokesman Christopher Bess said. "What we do know is that the offender was a very violent individual and should not have been on our streets.”
Van Gilst said he would also like answers.
"I do not know if Andrea had an interaction before with this suspect and it was a revenge case, or this was a total random act. I do know that she had no chance, she was sleeping," he said.
Van Gilst said Dos Passos had struggled with mental health in recent years.
"I think that the system let her down. At this moment I also have the feeling that I let her down," he said. Nobody deserves this. "Nobody deserves this, to die like this."
Gibert, who had already been labeled a habitual violent offender, could face a possible sentence of life in prison in convicted on the first-degree murder charge.
Some in the community, like Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez, are left wondering if Gibert had not been let out of jail whether the murder could have been prevented.
"It's an alarming failure of society. A violent criminal that's been in jail over 33 times, this is a man with a horrible wrap sheet, a danger to society who should never been in probation on the streets, roaming the streets of Miami Beach or anywhere in Miami-Dade County," Fernandez said. "This is a dangerous man who has committed atrocities against innocent individuals in society. He had one place and that was behind bars."
