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Man accused of beating transgender woman to death in Miami Beach – NBC 6 South Florida

Miami Beach police arrested a man after the body of a transgender woman was discovered Tuesday morning.

According to police, 53-year-old Gregory Fitzgerald Gilbert has been charged with one count of second-degree murder.

The victim's body was discovered in the area of ​​22nd Street and Liberty Avenue near the Miami City Ballet after an employee observed “what he believed to be a person sleeping outside … near the main entrance,” Gilbert's arrest report said.

When police and firefighters arrived at the scene, they pronounced the victim dead.

According to the report, injuries and blood were observed on the victim's face and head.

Archive: Gregory Fitzgerald Gilbert

Investigators recovered video surveillance that showed the victim arriving at the scene around midnight.

According to the police report, a few hours later a black man approached the victim as he lay. In the video, he can be seen grabbing some kind of metal pipe from the ground and hitting the victim several times on the head and face.

“The man is then seen standing over her, hitting her and then manipulating her body…then walking away and placing the pipe in a nearby trash can,” the report said.

Police were able to locate the suspect, identified as Gilbert, and transport him to MBPD.

Records showed that Gilbert was only released from prison on April 17 after spending more than a year in Miami-Dade custody, including for mental evaluations, and that he was charged with attempted armed robbery with a weapon and aggravated assault Assault with a weapon was sentenced to four years probation, deadly weapon.

Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed the body on the ground outside the building, with multiple investigators at the scene.

According to the report, the victim was identified as Andrea Dorias Dos Passos.

Due to the incident, the Miami City Ballet & Museum remained closed for the remainder of the day on Tuesday.

“I took ballet lessons here as a child. I just feel like it's getting scarier to be a woman,” said resident Daniela Tabbara.

Miami Beach police said: “This remains an open investigation and we are committed to working closely with the District Attorney's Office as the legal process continues.”

Contact NBC6 for updates.