A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of transgender actress and model Kesaria Abramidze in Georgia, a country in the South Caucasus region.

Beka Jaiani, 26, was convicted of killing the 37-year-old in her Tbilisi apartment on September 18, 2024. The court found that Abramidze had been stabbed in the neck more than 50 times in what authorities described as a particularly violent attack.

Although Jaiani partially admitted responsibility for the killing, he denied any acts of extreme cruelty or that the crime was motivated by gender identity. He was not present in the courtroom for the verdict, citing psychological and emotional distress, but stated that he regretted his actions.

His attorney, Giorgi Mdinaradze, criticized the ruling, claiming it was "based solely on moral considerations rather than legal grounds," and confirmed plans to appeal the verdict.

According to local media, Jaiani and Abramidze had been in a tumultuous relationship for approximately two years prior to the incident. On the day of the murder, CCTV footage captured Jaiani waiting near the elevator of Abramidze’s apartment building, then fleeing down the stairs less than 10 minutes later. Neighbours, alerted by screams, discovered Abramidze’s lifeless body inside her home.

Abramidze was a prominent figure in Georgia’s LGBTQ+ community, having undergone gender reassignment surgery in 2014. She represented Georgia at the Miss Trans Star International pageant in 2018 and had amassed over 500,000 followers online.

Her death marks the third high-profile murder of a transgender woman in Georgia in recent years. It occurred just one day after the Georgian parliament passed a controversial law banning what it labeled as "LGBTQ+ propaganda" — a move that has drawn condemnation both locally and internationally.

The killing has sparked widespread outrage and renewed calls for greater protections for LGBTQ+ individuals in the country.