Prosecutors say the 17-year-old Araujo, who was born male but believed her true gender was female, was beaten and strangled at a party in October by killers enraged that the beautiful girl they knew as "Lida" was biologically male.

"These defendants, acting in concert, committed a brutal and cold-blooded murder," Assistant District Attorney Connie Campbell said as a preliminary hearing on whether the four men charged in the killing should stand trial began Wednesday.

The defendants, 23-year-olds Jose Antonio Merel and Jason Michael Cazares, 22-year-old Michael William Magidson and 19-year-old Jaron Chase Nabors have all pleaded innocent to the killing, which was charged as a hate crime. Friends and relatives of the defendants describe them as hardworking young men who didn't harbor homophobic feelings.

Campbell said Araujo had engaged in sexual acts with one or more of the defendants. She says the defendants had conversations about whether Araujo was biologically male or female and had determined to find out on the night of the party, Oct. 3.

Witness Deanna Mendez, who said she had an intimate relationship with Cazares in recent months and knew all four defendants, testified she got a call from Cazares at about 3 a.m. on Oct. 4.

She could here a noise in the background, "basically yelling at someone to tell him the truth about something."

Mendez said she believed she recognized one of the voices as that of Merel. She acknowledged she earlier told her mother she heard someone say, "I am a girl," but said on the stand she wasn't sure. Mendez conceded she was a reluctant witness because of her friendship with the defendants.

Mendez said Cazares told her, "that someone was there and they were just trying to get an answer out of this person."

Cazares hung up saying, "something along the lines (of) `Something's about to go down,"' Mendez said.

Earlier, Lisa Munn, who described herself as Cazares' "significant other," testified that she believed Cazares was home that night. Munn said she couldn't recall specifics about that night but she doesn't remember Cazares ever being absent when she woke up, which usually was at 6 a.m.

After the party, no one came forward. The story leaked out only after Nabors blurted out something to a friend, police say. It eventually reached Araujo's family, who had reported the teen as missing. Police say Nabors eventually led them to the body, which was found in mid-October buried in a shallow grave 150 miles east of San Francisco in the Sierra foothills.

The hearing is scheduled to continue Thursday and is expected to pick up again on Feb. 18.

After court concluded, Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, who attended the hearing, stood briefly outside the courthouse while her attorney, Gloria Allred, talked to reporters, but did not feel up to talking herself.

"This is a difficult day for her," Allred said.

"It hurts so much," Sylvia Guerrero said later, following the second day of testimony on whether four men should stand trial for the murder of her child, 17-year-old Eddie "Gwen" Araujo.

Prosecutors say Araujo was killed at defendant Jose Antonio Merel's house after the defendants found out the girl they knew as Lida was biologically male. The prosecution continued to try to make that case Thursday, presenting testimony from Emmanuel Merel, Jose's brother, who was at the house that night and heard shouts of "Are you a man or a woman?"

Also charged are Michael William Magidson, 22, Jason Cazares, 23, and 19-year-old Jaron Nabors.

Because of scheduling conflicts, the next day of the hearing will be Feb. 18.

Much of the testimony Thursday dealt with the finding of Araujo's body and the results of a subsequent autopsy.

Newark Detective David Parks said Nabors led police to the body, buried in a shallow grave 150 miles east of San Francisco in the Sierra foothills. He said the body had a rope around the neck and was tied up and gagged.

Guerrero left the courtroom after Parks described how a purse strap was wrapped around Araujo's neck. But she soon returned to sit grim-faced through the sometimes technical, sometimes gruesome details of the autopsy.

"The testimony that was heard today is a parent's worst nightmare," family attorney Gloria Allred said after court ended for the day. "It's been a nauseating, horrific day for this mother."

Pathologist Dr. Paul Herrmann testified that the cause of death was strangulation associated with blows to the head. He said Araujo had two wounds on her head that probably were caused by a blunt instrument.

Under cross-examination from defense lawyers he also said that a blood alcohol level of .12 was found. However, Herrmann said the blood was drawn some time after death and it is possible that decomposition raised the level of alcohol in the blood. Tests also showed small amounts of marijuana and methamphetamine, he said.

After Herrmann, Emmanuel Merel, 20 and three years younger than his brother Jose, testified about what he overheard the night of the killing.

Clean-cut and studious-looking in wire-rimmed glasses, Emmanuel Merel said he went straight to his room after coming home the night of Oct. 3 and did not talk to other people in the house. He said he was awakened by shouting and heard his brother and others asking "Are you a man or a woman?" Merel said he thought he heard an answer of "Isn't it obvious?" from Araujo, whom he knew as Lida.

Merel said he opened his door but mostly stayed in his room because he didn't want to be part of the confrontation. He said he thought, "Are you a man or a woman?" was "a fairly ridiculous question to be asking somebody and that it was wrong to ask somebody a question like that."

At one point, Emmanuel Merel did yell out to "leave (Araujo) alone."

After the hearing ended, Allred said the interrogators were asking the wrong question.

"The relevant question was, `Is this person a human being?"' she said. "This was Sylvia's child."

Listening to the testimony Thursday was something, "words can't describe, just can't describe," Guerrero said. "I just want the truth," she said. "I think I deserve that."

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