A transgender man who made national headlines in 2004 was struck and killed by a vehicle on May 14, shortly after he was released from jail. Julio Silverwolf, 57, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 1:45 a.m. crash near the Clearwater-St. Petersburg International Airport.
Silverwolf was arrested the previous day for driving under the influence and had been released from the Pinellas County Jail an hour before the accident.
Silverwolf was born a woman and was formerly known as Julia Roach. She was married for 18 years before divorcing Larry Roach in 2004. In 2007, Larry Roach filed to stop paying alimony to his ex-wife, based on the fact that she had transformed into a man.
Silverwolf argued that his transition shouldn’t have any effect on the alimony payments.
“The fact that after the divorce I chose to transition and become a male really has no effect on the 18 years that we were man and wife,” Silverwolf said in an interview with the St. Pete Times in 2007. “I think people are little confused about that.”
Silverwolf said the alimony payments were necessary to pay his most basic expenses.
“The alimony is to pay for my apartment, to pay for my bills, my groceries, any other medical things that I have that are unrelated to that,” Silverwolf said.
A judge agreed and found that the state of Florida still recognized Silverwolf as a woman and ordered Roach to continue paying $1,250 a month in alimony. The ruling meant that Roach had to continue paying until either he or Silverwolf died.
The case garnered national attention. Appearing on Larry King Live, Roach described the marriage as “normal” until his wife began injecting testosterone, lifting weights and growing facial hair.
A call to Roach wasn’t returned to Watermark by press time, but he was quoted in the St. Petersburg Times as saying he was unsure how to react.
It is unclear if Silverwolf intentionally stepped into the path of Susan K. West’s car on Roosevelt Boulevard. Close friend Ed Smith said he had been depressed over finances.
He had a previous DUI, and had been arrested for aggravated assault after being accused of threatening a woman with a baseball bat. The charge was later dropped.
Despite that, Smith described his friend as “a genuinely nice person.”
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the crash but a spokesperson said West was not at fault and that there were no plans to file charges against her.
