Liz Magnolia Ortega Castilloalias “La China”, aged 24, was sentenced to life imprisonment for an aberrant crime: in September 2021 sprayed with fuel, ignited and killed a one and a half year old baby, at the same time that it caused serious burns to the creature’s mother, who was carrying him in her arms. In the event, which took place in Rafael Castillo, the condemned woman’s couple was also involved, Alberto Adolfo Gerasimchuk (23)whom the Justice considered a necessary participant in the crime and sentenced him to 14 years in jail.
The resolution was taken by the Oral Criminal Court No. 2 of La Matanza, made up of judges Lucila Pacheco, Arturo Gavier and Diego Burgueño. In this way, Ortega Castillo will be able to request parole only on September 18, 2056, when he is 57 years old, while Gerasimchuk’s sentence will expire on September 18, 2035.
The crime happened at 1:50 p.m. on September 19, 2021, in front of a house located on Calle Sudamericana at 2100, where Delgadillo resided with his son Liam. That night, they both arrived at the house in the vehicle of Laura’s boyfriend at the time, a young man named Augustine Sayago that he was also accused and went to trial, although the prosecution finally dropped the charges against him and he was released.
When the three got off a motorcycle they were riding, Ortega Castillo got out of a Ford 100 that was already parked and attacked them. “Here you are son of a bitch”he yelled at Delgadillo. In his right hand he had a bottle of alcohol and in the other a lighter. In a few seconds he set fire to the baby and his mother, and then escaped in the truck that was driven by Gerasimchuk.
“She laughed, after throwing me, she threw the baby twice”Delgadillo told the trial. The victims screamed desperately until a group of neighbors managed to help them and take them to the hospital. To put out the flames that were surrounding the baby, they had to throw him into a ditch with stagnant water. Liam had 90% of his body burned and he died.
Ortega Castillo was a former partner of Sagayo and, at the same time, lifelong friend Laura’s. This led the investigation to conclude that the attack occurred in the middle of a plot of jealousy and betrayal among the defendants who acted with treachery. For the acting prosecutor’s office, the defendants “perpetrated the act through a devised plan, with the premeditated agreement, intended to cause the death of the victims through the functional division of tasks.”
It may interest you: The mother of the baby who was set on fire and killed in Rafael Castillo said that one of the detainees “laughed” when attacking her
Both the trial prosecutor, Sergio Alejandro Antinas the lawyers of the injured individual, Miguel Racanelli y Yair Fernandez, they had asked for a life sentence for Ortega Castillo and Gerasimchuk. However, regarding the man, the judges imposed a lesser sentence considering that he was only responsible for the attack on Delgadillo and not the baby. “I find no reason to think that he himself knew of the presence or the possibility of involvement of the minor”indicated Judge Burgueño in the ruling published by the news agency telam.
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