Uniformed executioners: At least 5 officers have murdered family members so far in 2025

Santo Domingo.- Officers who swore to protect and serve, but in the intimacy of their homes became executioners. In the Dominican Republic, the number of cases is growing in which agents of the National Police, military personnel and other members of the armed forces commit crimes against their partners, even leading to the murder of children and other family members.

The most recent case occurred on Sunday, July 13 involves a sergeant of the Police who shot his partner in the municipality of Villa Hermosa, La Romana province. This is officer Wilkin Vásquez Ozoria who took the life of Mindalis Núñez, alias “Ana Cari”, 31 years old.   According to the data, the femicide occurred after a heated discussion minutes after they both left a nightclub, allegedly over 10,000 pesos that the man, who is in custody, claims the deceased stole from him. The event left five children orphaned, according to preliminary reports. One of the cases that caused consternation occurred on July 9, when the captain of the Dominican Republic Army (ERD), Samuel Mora Alcántara, 49 years old, shot his ex-partner, Elania Galarza Cabrera, 35 years old, and her mother, Beatriz Reyes Cabrera, 65 years old, an event that occurred in the sector Mejoramiento Social of the National District. After committing the double homicide, Mora Alcántara moved to the Sabana Perdida sector, in the Santo Domingo Norte municipality, where he committed suicide with the same weapon. A similar case occurred in La Vega in January of this year, the second lieutenant Juan Luis Jiménez Adames shot and killed his partner and her mother, in front of their three children, in the La Arboleda sector. The victims were identified as Arianny Rodríguez, 25 years old, and her mother Marisela Rodríguez Martes, 51 years old, also causing injuries to Franklin Ruiz Inoa, assistant to the deceased in domestic services. After the crime, the former officer remained a fugitive for two months; in March, he surrendered to the authorities, and the Public Ministry ordered one year of preventive detention against him. In March 31 a retired officer of the Dominican Air Force (FAD) shot his partner, one of his children and his daughter-in-law, in addition to injuring another of his children, before committing suicide in the Nueva Jerusalén sector, Santo Domingo Este municipality. The man identified as Fabio Montero Berigüete, took the life of his wife Ofrany Canario Montero, his son Santo Montero Canario and his daughter-in-law Scarlin Mariel Román. The neighbors who remained in amazement at what happened, stated that they were a peaceful and harmonious family. Last year, some cases were also recorded. In January 2024, a senior sergeant of the Dominican Navy killed his sentimental partner and then took his own life, an event recorded in the Los Mogotes sector of the municipal district of San José del Puerto, Villa Altagracia.

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The perpetrator-suicide is “Cesarín Turbí Vázquez”, while the victim’s name was “Rosmery Martínez”. It was the 4th femicide of that year.

In a June of that year, history repeated itself. A member of the National Police took the life of his ex-partner and then committed suicide, in the Nuevas Terrazas residential area, located on Avenida Monumental in the National District. The victim of the femicide was identified as Liann Guerrero Bobadilla, a 29-year-old woman, while the femicide-suicide was identified as José Enmanuel Guzmán Pichardo.

The common denominator in these events is the firearm. Unlike other aggressors, these men have tactical training and institutional legitimacy for the use of a pistol that should be used to protect the citizenry in the faithful fulfillment of duty.

Law No. 631-16, for the control and regulation of weapons, ammunition and related materials, establishes that officers are responsible for controlling and properly safeguarding assigned weapons, preventing their misuse, diversion or trafficking

These cases should not be considered isolated and raise urgent questions: What is failing within the armed institutions? What happens when those who must enforce the law place themselves above it? And how to confront it in a country where firearms, machismo, and impunity are dangerously intertwined? This suggests preventive actions that include periodic psychological evaluations of those who carry firearms, even if they are part of a military organization.