According to a statement from the Department of Justice, in the early morning hours of February 24, 2020, Jordany Rafael Laboy-Garcia, Christian Yamaurie Rivera-Otero, and former co-defendant Anthony Steven Lobos-Ruiz were driving in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, when they recognized Luciano standing under a tent on a roadside. The trio had seen pictures on social media of Luciano being questioned by police after she used the women’s restroom at a local McDonald’s. The trio harassed Luciano due to her gender identity, then returned with paint guns which they used to assault her repeatedly. The trio videotaped the attacks and distributed them to others, but later attempted to delete the videos to hide their involvement with Luciano.
The next day, Luciano was shot at least 10 times with a handgun. Video allegedly showing the murder was also posted to social media. Her murder remains unsolved to this day despite a $50,000 reward offered by the FBI.