The motive for the crime of a young mother shot-dead at dawn, Monday, right next to her children, a one-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy, in Ramal 54 in front of the entrance of the La Pradera community in Guayama, PR remains uncertain.
The Puerto Rico Police was alerted at 12 a.m. about gun shots at the scene and when police arrived at the scene they found the body of a woman on the pavement several feet away from her 2014 red Toyota Yaris vehicle, where her two offspring slept.
The children, who were inside the vehicle, were unharmed and were placed in the provisional custody of the Department of Families.
The victim, who received at least 10 gunshot wounds, was identified as Sandra Enid Bones Roque, 22, from Arroyo.
.40 caliber shells were recovered at the scene as evidence.
The woman’s ex-partner is jailed in the Las Cucharas correctional complex in Ponce, after being accused on October 22, 2020 of violating articles 3.1 (mistreatment), 3.3 (threat), 3.5 (conjugal sexual assault) and violations of the Guns Law, while he was already serving an 8-year probation for violating article 3.2 (aggravated mistreatment).
A protection order was also in effect until October 23, 2021.
Near the place of the events, an individual was intervened who hit a slope, presumably when he heard the shots, then went into a nearby mountain and was carrying marijuana. At present, he has not been linked to the murder at this preliminary stage, although he will be interviewed.
The Police commissioner, Antonio López Figueroa, attended the scene today and also met with the director of the Criminal Investigation Corps (CIC) of Guayama, Captain Miguel Rodríguez, to learn about the details of the investigation since on the island there is a state of emergency for violence against women, decreed by the governor.
“We do not rule out anything at this stage … (the victim) was hanging out with some friends in the area and was going home (in Arroyo). We do know that (the crime) was not to rob her, the person who did it knows her, “said the official, who made the necessary resources available to the investigators to clarify the case.
As part of the investigative efforts, the agents tried to occupy security cameras on that route and would search the woman’s cell phone. Her relatives and those close to her are also interviewed in search of clues.
Agent Carlos León, attached to the Guayama Homicide Division, investigates the events together with prosecutor Alba Bermúdez.
