[2] Lorena Escalera was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City when she turned eighteen years old.
Escalera had been working as a make-up artist in Puerto Rico but wanted to come to New York City to broaden her career as a performer and model.
When the blaze was extinguished, at 4:37 a.m., Escalera was discovered, "unconscious and unresponsive" and paramedics declared her dead at the scene.
The whereabouts of the two visitors were not known, though a neighbor said he was told by the passer-by that two men were arguing in front of the building at the time of the fire.
[3] The New York Times article covering Escalera's death was criticized by GLAAD[4] for being "trans exploitation".