From ‘Eddie’ to ‘Gwen,’ Judge OK’s Dead Teen’s Name Change

BERKELEY — In life, 17-year-old Eddie Araujo Jr. wanted to be known by the name friends and family agreed best suited the teenager: Gwen. In death, Araujo got that wish as a judge posthumously granted a name change.

The decision was a bittersweet victory, coming 18 months after Araujo was beaten and strangled and less than two weeks after a mistrial was declared in the case against the three men accused in the killing.

“This is something that all of us have been waiting too long for,” Araujo’s mother, Sylvia Guerrero, said in a prepared statement Thursday announcing the name change. “It is one of my regrets that I didn’t call my daughter Gwen more while she was alive. Having this order granted helps me to put that regret to rest.”

Guerrero had filed for the name change in late May. Alameda County Superior Court Commissioner Thomas Surh called the request “a novel situation” and said he would have to take some time to make a decision.

This week, the family learned by a mailed notice that the name change had been granted June 23.

“It’s amazing. We’re incredibly happy,” said Christopher Daley, an attorney with the San Francisco-based Transgender Law Center who handled the case. “What’s most important about this to us is just to once again see how California recognizes and supports transgender people who live here and just shows that our courts are evolving into a more welcoming place for transgender people.”

Three men had been on trial in Araujo’s death: Michael Magidson, Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, all 24. Magidson and Merel had had sexual encounters with Araujo, and prosecutors said the three men killed Araujo after they had discovered she was biologically male.

But the case, which began in March, ended in a mistrial June 22 after jurors said they were deadlocked, hung over whether the case was first-degree or second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said they would retry the case. The defendants, who remain in custody, are due back in court July 30, although a new trial is likely months away.

Araujo’s identity had been a big part of the trial, with one defense attorney calling the case “classic manslaughter” committed in a passion provoked by sexual deception.

Araujo’s family said the defense unfairly blamed the victim and was untrue; they maintain the teenager, who had been living as a girl for some years, had presented her true self.

Daley said the name-change helps “relieve some of the stress about the mistrial.” He and Guerrero are asking reporters to start using Araujo’s new name.

“We hope [the name change] is going to be a powerful tool to make sure that Gwen’s identity is respected both in the media and in the courtroom,” Daley said.