Santiago, DR.- The judges who make up the First Collegiate Court of this judicial district sentenced the police officer, assigned to Rapid Action, to 15 years in prison. Alejandro Castro Cruz, for the death of the child Donelly Joel Martínez Tejada.
The minor, 11 years old, died from the impact of a bullet fired from Castro Cruz’s weapon, an event that occurred on the afternoon of February 12, 2023 on the corner formed by Mella Street and Las Carreras Avenue, while the festivities of the Santiago Carnival.
He Public Prosecutor’s Office classified the act as voluntary homicide, but the judges qualified it as involuntary.
The court was presided over by Magistrate Judge Juan Carlos Colón and comprised of Magistrates Claribel Mateo and Gladys de los Santos.
Outrage over conviction
Donelly’s family expressed outrage as they had expected the maximum sentence.
The agent killed the minor after hitting him with his a gunshot wound to the left arm and chest, when, in an excessive use of force, he fired his firearm.
The criminal charges against the accused, Agent Alejandro Castro Cruz, are violation of articles 295, 304 and 309 of the Dominican Penal Code for voluntary homicide against Donelly Joel Martinez, as well as for transgression to articles 186, 2, 295 and 309 for abuse of authority against individuals, for the blows and injuries inflicted on the teenager’s father, Anthony Ysauri Martinez.
From the extensive file of evidence that it has collected, the Prosecutor’s Office presented the documentaries, expert reports and audiovisuals, last one in which he records in detail the events that took place.
In addition to the evidence that was incorporated in this first hearing, the justice body will present other materials and testimonies that constitute all the necessary probative force to achieve the imposition of a sentence that could be up to 20 years in prison.
The investigation into the incident was led by the titular prosecutor Osvaldo Bonilla and the Internal Affairs Department of the Prosecutor’s Office, headed by the Attorney General of the Court, Gerardo Ponce.
He Public Prosecutor’s Office He stated that it was a serious incident in which the accused, after breaking into the place where the victim’s family was celebrating the carnival, He abused the authority conferred upon him by law, violating all protocols for the use of force.
