San Cristóbal.- The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal of this demarcation ratified this Monday the preventive detention of María Luisa (Mary Louise) Ventura Garrido, who faces charges of homicide against the dancer and actress Patricia Ascuasiati.
The court dismissed the appeal filed by the defendant’s defense and accepted the request of the Public Ministry, represented by court attorney Diomerys Soto Valdez and inspector José Andrés Fernández Javier.
The judicial body demonstrated that the coercive measure of preventive detention should be maintained against the defendant to guarantee her presence in the process for the death of Ascuasiati.
The judges ratified the preventive detention that Ventura is serving in the Najayo Mujeres Correction and Rehabilitation Center, accused of violating articles 295 and 304 of the Dominican Penal Code.
It is recalled that Ascuasiati Domínguez died in a health center in Santo Domingo several days after she was run over by the accused, an event that occurred on February 15, at kilometer 40 of the Duarte Highway, Villa Altagracia municipality, in a north-south direction.
In the request for a coercive measure, the Villa Altagracia Prosecutor’s Office specified that both were traveling in a white sedan car driven by Ventura Garrido, who, when stopping to the right, on the aforementioned highway, intentionally ran over Ascuasiati Dominguez.
Also read: https://elnacional.com.do/conoceran-apelacion-caso-ascuasiati/
The victim would have demanded the accused to stop the vehicle to the right in order to drive the rest of the way to Santo Domingo, since he was driving recklessly, the instance indicates.
It details that upon reaching the place where the incident occurred, the defendant stopped the vehicle to the right and at that moment the victim opened the passenger door, dismounted from the car and moved towards the front.
He explains that when Ascuasiati Domínguez was about to cross the front of the car, he was suddenly run over by the defendant, who ran over him, leaving the victim trapped under the right front tire of the vehicle.
The Villa Altagracia Prosecutor’s Office is in charge of the case for which Ventura Garrido is prosecuted, who last month was sentenced to three months of preventive detention by the Permanent Attention Court of this municipality, with the mandatory review of the measure being set for the next 7 of June.
