The mother of Lucio Dupuy, the five-year-old boy murdered in November 2021 in the Pampas capital, and his partner are being tried as of this Thursday as co-authors of the crime in an oral debate in which more than 100 witnesses will testify.
The trial, which will take place behind closed doors since the victim was a minor and a crime against sexual integrity is being debated, began at 8 a.m. and will be in charge of the Santa Rosa Court of Hearings, made up of judges Aníbal Olié, Alejandra Ongaro and Daniel Sáez Zamora.
Judicial sources informed Télam that the debate will take place until December 22 and about 105 witnesses will testify.
The prosecution will be headed by prosecutors Walter Martos, Verónica Ferrero and Marcos Sacco, while Lucio’s family will be represented by lawyer Mario Aguerrido.
On the defendant’s bench are the victim’s mother, Magdalena Espósito Valenti; and her partner, Abigail Páez, who remain detained in the Penitentiary Complex 1 of the city of San Luis.
In the case of Espósito Valenti, she arrives at the debate accused of “homicide triply qualified by the link (for being ascendant) and with cruelty and treachery; in real competition with sexual abuse seriously outrageous due to its duration and specific forms of execution, triply aggravated for being the guardian at the time of the events, for being committed by two people and for coexisting with the victim under 18 years of age, as a continuing crime.”
While Páez was accused of the same crime, but with one less aggravating circumstance since she was not a relative of Lucio, although, like Espósito Valenti, she could also be sentenced to life in prison.
Lucio’s crime occurred on November 26, 2021, when the child died as a result of the blows received.
Due to the death of the minor, they arrested his mother and her partner, who at first were housed in the 6th branch. from Santa Rosa, where they received severe attacks, for which they were later transferred to San Luis.
According to the autopsy, requested by the Administrative Investigations Prosecutor’s Office (FIA), the child “had polytrauma due to blows, bites and burns, old and recent” and that the death was caused by “internal hemorrhage”, product of the aggressions .
“In my almost 30 years of profession I have never seen anything like this”the coroner Juan Carlos Toulouse had told Télam.
After Lucio’s death, it was determined that the child had been treated at least five times in a period of three months for polytrauma in different health centers in La Pampa, although there were no complaints from any professional in this regard, nor from the authorities of the kindergarten that he attended.
For this reason, an administrative investigation was initiated at the government level to establish the responsibilities of officials in the omission of complaints that could have prevented this outcome.
