GREELEY — Allen Andrade told his girlfriend that he “snapped” when he learned the woman he had oral sex with the night before was biologically a man.

Indeed, until he confronted 18-year-old Angie Zapata in her Greeley apartment in July, Andrade had no reason to believe she was born Justin Zapata, Andrade’s attorney argued Thursday at his preliminary hearing in Weld County District Court.

Zapata’s closet was full of women’s clothes and her apartment was decorated with a female’s touch, testified Greeley police Detective Greg Tharp.

Only when Andrade grabbed at Zapata’s crotch did he discover the truth. But when she smiled at him and said, “I’m all woman,” it drove an enraged Andrade to commit murder, attorney Annette Kundelius said.

“At best, this is a case about passion,” Kundelius said. “When (Zapata) smiled at him, this was a highly provoking act, and it would cause someone to have an aggressive reaction.”

She argued Thursday that the first-degree murder charge filed against Andrade for Zapata’s murder be dropped to second-degree murder.

But Weld County District Judge Marcelo Kopcow ruled otherwise Thursday, citing evidence the 31-year-old Andrade killed Zapata with deliberation.

Andrade hit Zapata several times with a fire extinguisher after he confronted her about her transgender status, Kopcow said.

He said he also considered several statements Andrade allegedly made while in custody that showed his anger toward Zapata and gays in general, including Andrade referring to Zapata as “it.”

When his girlfriend told him her cellphone was dying during a conversation with him, he said that was gay and “all gay things need to die,” Tharp said.

Andrade also said that he was trying to put the murder behind him and there was “no use crying over spilled milk,” Tharp said.

Kopcow declined to drop a felony bias-motivated crime charge, which could lengthen Andrade’s sentence if convicted.

The judge refused to set bail for Andrade, citing the capital nature of the crime. Another hearing in the case is set for Nov. 6.