Man sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder of teenager in Santiago

Santiago. – The Public Ministry obtained a 30-year prison sentence against Daniel Ignacio Cepeda (Danny), found guilty of the shooting death of teenager Maiky Alberto Ortega Santana, 16 years old, in an event that occurred on September 30, 2024, in the Los Santos neighborhood, in Santiago. According to the indictment, Cepeda pursued the victim along with two other men, currently fugitives, until intercepting her on Generoso Díaz street, where they shot her multiple times, causing her death. During the trial, the litigating prosecutor Aida Medrano Gonell presented to the court a set of expert, documentary, testimonial, and material evidence that conclusively demonstrated the criminal responsibility of the convicted. The evidence established that Cepeda was carrying a firearm and acted in coordination with his accomplices. The investigation was immediately taken over by the Santiago Prosecutor’s Office, which on the same night of the crime appointed prosecutor Yeilín Durán, director of the Department of Physical Violence (Homicide), for the collection and analysis of evidence. As part of the process, the route followed by the victim and the aggressors before and during the attack was reconstructed. The Public Ministry explained that the event originated after a discussion at a gas station located at the intersection of 27 de Febrero and Estrella Sadhalá avenues, where the victim had an altercation with a dispatcher, to which one of the fugitives joined, who uttered death threats. Subsequently, the teenager left the place with two friends towards the Los Santos neighborhood.

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Minutes later, one of those involved contacted Cepeda and other members of the group, who moved to the sector aboard a white Honda CRV EXL 4×4 jeep. Cameras from the National Emergency and Security Attention System 911 captured the vehicle traveling several streets until locating the victim. Eyewitnesses reported that Cepeda and his companions got out of the vehicle and opened fire on the teenager and the people who were in the place, causing him mortal wounds. The forensic ballistics experts from the Scientific Police collected 14 shell casings at the crime scene, determining that they were fired from three different firearms. The sentence was handed down by judges Deyanira Méndez, Kimberly Tatis and Ingrid Liberato, of the Third Collegiate Court of Santiago, who accepted the legal qualification presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for violation of articles 265, 266, 296, 297, 298 and 302 of the Dominican Penal Code.