Mom Seeks to Change Araujo's Name

Mom seeks to change Araujo's name

Posthumous request is unprecedented


By Linh Tat, STAFF WRITER

FREMONT -- The mother of a transgender teen who was slain in 2002 petitioned in court Tuesday to legally change her child's name posthumously.
Eddie Araujo Jr., 17, was living as a woman named Gwen at the time of the slaying.

Sylvia Guerrero of Newark sought a name change for her child at the Fremont Hall of Justice on Tuesday -- the same day that prosecutors and defense attorneys in Hayward rested their cases in the trial of three men charged with assaulting and strangling Araujo.

Because granting a name change posthumously is unprecedented, Commissioner L. Thomas Surh postponed taking action and said he would make his decision within a month.

Relatives of Araujo said afterward that they were not surprised by Surh's postponement.

"Today went very well. I'm hopeful. He didn't deny it, and he could have," Guerrero said.

"She's Gwen to me. I lost Eddie a long time ago and had to say goodbye to him," said Guerrero.

Guerrero said she is seeking to change her child's name to Gwen Amber Rose Araujo to fulfill a promise she once made.

"I wanted to make sure my daughter's spirit rested in peace," she said.

Araujo had chosen the name "Gwen" after Gwen Stefani of the band No Doubt, Guerrero said.

"Amber Rose" had been the intended name for Araujo when Guerrero was pregnant and thought that she would have a girl, she said.

Family and friends of Araujo released 17 balloons outside the Fremont courthouse Tuesday afternoon -- one for each year the teen was alive.

"We do this on a significant day when we need strength and encouragement," said David Guerrero, Araujo's uncle.

Staff writer Linh Tat covers Newark for The Argus. She can be reached at (510) 353-7004 or ltat [at] angnewspapers.com .
5/27/04