A Colombian national who killed a sex worker in her apartment after learning she was transgender will spend at least six years and nine months in jail.
Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia killed 69-year-old Kimberly McRae at her apartment in Sydney's eastern suburbs in January 2020.
He had earlier engaged her services as a sex worker.
As well as being a self-employed sex worker, Ms McRae was also an author, publishing her autobiographical memoir, Hey Boys, She's Got a Gash and Other Tales of Gods, under the pseudonym Isabella Lawson.
Her sister Karen McRae told the court she was an intelligent, talented artist and a friend to many.
NSW Supreme Court Justice Dina Yehia said Valencia's sentence of 10 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of six years and nine months does not and cannot measure the value of her life.
The judge was not persuaded he was motivated by hatred or prejudice.
The 23-year-old flew into a rage after learning Ms McRae was transgender, punching her twice before a struggle on the darkened apartment's floor as she defended herself.
He placed the electrical cord of a lamp over her neck with some force for several seconds, causing her death.
Valencia was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in February following a judge-alone trial.
Ms McRae's killing was not premeditated, planned or targeted, rather a spontaneous reaction which unfolded quickly, but which could have been easily avoided.
"Angry or not, the offender should have simply left the deceased's unit rather than reacting with violence," the judge said, sentencing Valencia on Friday.
Ms McRae's already decomposing body was found covered with a bloodied blanket and pillow. She was wearing tights and a grey long-sleeved top pulled down, exposing her breasts.
Before leaving, Valencia rummaged through the unit for Ms McRae's mobile phones, trying to destroy messages between him and her by throwing them into the toilet, rather than calling for help.
While he did not seek assistance for Ms McRae after rendering her unconscious, Valencia left the unit likely realising she was dead and his failure to render assistance did not contribute to it, the judge said.
"Instead, it demonstrates callousness on behalf of the offender and a lack of remorse immediately after the offending," she said.
Justice Yehia said Valencia demonstrated genuine remorse with his early guilty plea, expert observations and representations to the then attorney-general Christian Porter in a letter found when he was arrested in Aruba.
"I am a migrant young man who did not know how to manage a heated situation, one who felt fear and made an irreparable mistake for which he must pay," he wrote.
"If with my life I could return hers I would offer it without a thought, but I know it is not possible, God does not allow for that."
He told his parents a different version of events, that Ms McRae had simply fainted during an argument, the judge inferring he was too ashamed and embarrassed to tell them the truth.
Valencia has since demonstrated insight into his offending, with strong prospects of rehabilitation, the judge found.
His age, the fact he will serve a sentence of first time imprisonment in onerous conditions owing to the pandemic, as well as linguistic and cultural barriers, and isolation from family contributed to the judge's finding of special circumstances, reflected in the sentence. It also attracted a 25 per cent discount due to the early guilty plea.
Valencia has been in custody since being extradited in February 2020 and will be eligible for parole in November 2026.
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