"Habitual Violent" Offender Charged With Murdering Trans Woman Less Than a Week After Release From Jail

The man accused of bludgeoning a transgender woman to death with a metal pipe outside the Miami City Ballet is a "habitual violent felony offender" who had been released from prison just days before the deadly assault, according to county records.

Police reports and Miami-Dade County court records obtained by New Times show that 53-year-old Gregory Fitzgerald Gibert was released from prison last week on past aggravated assault and robbery charges. Approximately six days later, he was accused of fatally beating 37-year-old Andrea Dos Passos as she was lying on the ground outside the ballet's building in Miami Beach.

Gibert had served slightly more than a year in jail on the prior charges and was on probation at the time of his April 24 arrest for the murder of Dos Passos.

On Tuesday morning, after observing "what he believed to be a person sleeping outside" the Miami City Ballet building, an employee of the ballet noticed blood around the woman's body and called police. Upon arrival, first responders pronounced Dos Passos dead at the scene.

Video surveillance shows Dos Passos arriving outside the ballet company around midnight and lying down near the entrance. A few hours later, a Black man with a shaved head is seen approaching her and grabbing a pipe, which he used to repeatedly strike her in the head and face.

Dos Passos was found bloodied and beaten, with two wooden sticks lodged in her nostrils, according to a police report. Police recovered the pipe from a nearby trashcan.

"At this time, the evidence does not indicate that the victim was targeted due to her gender identity," Miami Beach Police Department spokesperson Christopher Bess tells New Times.

"The investigation remains ongoing, and we are working with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office throughout the judicial process," Bess says.

CBS reported that Dos Passos' stepfather described her as a "good person" who struggled with mental health issues and homelessness dating back to her 20s. He said his wife was devastated by the news of Dos Passos' death.
A police report obtained by New Times shows that Gibert was arrested in 2023 on aggravated assault and robbery charges stemming from an incident in which he threatened a man with a blade in Miami.

The report states that on April 5, 2023, Gibert approached the man on Northwest 1st Avenue, brandished a "silver piece of metal," and demanded that he get off the Yamaha moped. Security features on the bike prevented Gibert from driving away, the victim told police.

Gibert then challenged the victim, saying, "Fight me," before trying to leave the scene, according to the report. The victim said that when he followed Gibert, Gibert began to throw rocks at him.

Police arrived and detained Gibert, who "stated he suffers from mental illness and wanted to exercise his right to remain silent." Officers found a crack pipe in his fanny pack.

The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department tells New Times that Gibert was in its custody from early May 2023 until last week.

On April 15, he was sentenced to time served along with four years of probation. The case judgment notes that Gibert is classified as a "habitual violent felony offender."

He was released on April 18, according to the corrections department. 

Gibert's criminal record includes additional assault charges, trespass arrests, and theft counts. Court records obtained by New Times show that he was sentenced to 53 days time served in 2022 in another case involving an assault with a deadly weapon.

The state attorney's office tells New Times that its hate crimes unit will be reviewing the Dos Passos murder case.

"The SAO Hate Crimes unit reviews every criminal offense that has the potential of being motivated by hate, to see if Florida’s hate crime enhancement is applicable to the specific situation," the state attorney's office says.

Joe Saunders, senior political director with LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida, told the Miami Herald that "whenever a transgender person is murdered, especially when it is with such brutality, the question should be asked about whether or not this was a hate-motivated crime."

In a statement provided to New Times, Ron Book, chair of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, said, "tragedies like this one only serve to remind us of how dangerous it is to live on the streets." Book praised investigators for quickly apprehending the suspect.

"This is why the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust is steadfast in its efforts to house people experiencing homelessness and bring an end to unsheltered homelessness," Book said. "We trust the legal system will find justice for Andrea Dos Passos."

Editor's note 4/26/2024: The Miami Beach Police Department revised its statement to refer to the victim's "gender identity" in place of the statement's original term, "sexuality."