Judge Máximo Ortega declared the prescription of the culpable homicide of Valentina Cosíos, who, at age 11, was found dead in her schoolyard.
When a criminal case prescribes, It is no longer possible to initiate or continue a judicial process against the suspects. That was what happened in the case of five of the six linked by alleged culpable homicide on the death of Valentina Cosíos.
Judge Máximo Ortega was the one who made the decision, arguing that five years had elapsed since the investigation of the case began. That is why only one person, of the six involved, will go to trial: it is Professor Daiana Muñoz, the first linked to the death of the 11-year-old girl.
While Carlos de la Bastida, director of the Global Educational Unit of Ecuador (where Valentina was found dead), and teachers Katherine Jiménez, Vielka Ponce, Gabriela Cevallos and Lucía Chalá were released from charges.
Appeal
Prosecutor Mayra Soria and Ruth Montenegro, mother of Valentina, they appealed to the judge’s decision. So it will be the Provincial Court of Pichincha which sets the date for the appeal hearing, and it will be known if Judge Ortega’s decision is overturned or upheld.
Justice took five years
After five years of murder of Valentina, Prosecutor’s Office (in 2021) linked five persons. Montenegro maintained that the Justice throughout these years has not operated with speed, as the case of a girl found dead within her educational institution should have been treated.
“We are five years away and we do not have those responsible, those who attacked Valentina that afternoon and they took his life. We know that there are accomplices, accessories and direct aggressors, “he said in a past interview with LA HORA, the mother of Valentina.(AVV)
“The lives of other creatures are still threatened, because those who attacked Valentina they are still free ”, Ruth Montenegro, mother of Valentina