The family of a 35-year-old trans woman allegedly murdered by her partner in Marbella has demanded that her killing be recognised as gender-based violence.

The victim, officially registered as Franyel but who identified as Kimberlyn, was stabbed to death at the home she shared with her 59-year-old partner in San Pedro de Alcantara.

The suspect has since been remanded in custody while being investigated for suspected homicide.

Speaking from Venezuela, her sister Frayelys Molina said the family had been expecting her home after almost six years apart.

‘She always considered herself a woman,’ she told Malaga Hoy.

Their last conversation came two days before the killing, when Franyel was preparing to return to Venezuela.

‘She went to get her things from this man’s house and she never wrote to me again. She wanted to come and see us.’

Frayelys said relatives had become increasingly concerned about what she described as a controlling relationship.

‘Every time I called her, he was beside her. She was never alone,’ she said.

The couple had reportedly made complaints against each other on August 1 and were both arrested, but neither subsequently ratified their complaint and the proceedings were shelved.

Frayelys claimed her sister had complained that her partner would not let her work or go out.

‘She told me she was tired of that man because he wouldn’t let her be herself or go out,’ she said.

Row over gender violence classification

Franyel had not completed the formal change of sex on her Spanish documentation, despite identifying as a woman and reportedly being in the process of changing her paperwork.

As a result, the case was sent to an ordinary investigating court rather than a specialist court dealing with violence against women.

The Asociacion Trans de Andalucía-Sylvia Rivera (ATA) has demanded that the administrative issue does not prevent authorities from considering whether the killing constitutes gender violence.

‘Franyel cannot be administratively erased after having been murdered,’ the organisation said.

Her family is meanwhile trying to repatriate her body to Venezuela, but says the cost is a major obstacle.

Frayelys described her sister as the family’s main financial support.

‘She was the pillar of the household, the one who helped us,’ she said.

A childhood friend also said Franyel had previously told her that her partner ‘was not very good to her’.

‘Justice still has to be done,’ she said. ‘Gender doesn’t matter, what matters is the life of a person. He has to pay for what he did.’

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.