Family members of a homeless woman beaten to death in her sleep are seeking answers as her accused killer appeared via video to face formal charges, according to a report.
Andrea Dorias Dos Passos, 37, was found beaten to death outside the Miami City Ballet on Tuesday morning, HNGN previously reported. Passos identified as a transgender woman and was homeless, according to WPLG.
Passos' stepfather, Victor Van Gilst, said his family is devastated.
"I knew one day this could happen," Van Gilst said to NBCMiami.
"I need to go through the stages of anger and grief and denial and acceptance and all that," he added.
Gregory Fitzgerald Gilbert, 53, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge in the killing of the 37-year-old. Gibert went before Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer on Thursday by video after failing to appear for a bond court appearance on Wednesday.
Glazer concluded there was probable cause to charge Gilbert with a more serious offense.
"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," the judge said.
Investigators discovered surveillance video capturing Gilbert beating Dos Passos with a metal pipe as she slept near the entrance of the building, according to an arrest report filed by Miami Beach Police.
Upon discovering Passos' body, law enforcement officials discovered lacerations to her head and face, a puncture wound to her chest, and two wooden sticks lodged in her nostrils
The suspect can be seen dumping the metal pipe in a nearby trash can in the footage.
Police were able to track down Gilbert after retrieving the weapon and obtaining his fingerprints. He was found with bloodstained shoes and basketball shoes, per the report.
Records reveal Gilbert had just been released from jail, where he was being held for armed robbery and aggravated assault, a week before committing the crime.
While prosecutors sought at least a 10-year prison sentence for the attempted robbery of a moped, the case wasn't strong enough to go to trial, in part due to a corroborating witness's repeated failure to appear in court.
Gilbert was given four years of probation instead.
Miami Beach spokesman Christopher Bess does not believe the evidence points to a hate crime, commenting, "The evidence does not allude to the fact that the defendant targeted the victim based on her sexual orientation or gender."
The victim's stepfather told NBC Miami he wants answers and said Dos Passos had struggled with mental health issues in recent years.
"I think that the system let her down. At this moment, I also have the feeling that I let her down," Van Gilst expressed.
Nobody deserves this. "Nobody deserves this, to die like this."
Gibert, who's known as a habitual violent offender, faces a possible life sentence if convicted on the first-degree murder charge.
A motive for the crime remains unknown.
