Amid shock and outrage, family and friends of Jonathan Gabriel Sánchez Criollo21 years old, and Josselyn Katherine Hernández Basurto19, demand justice and speed in investigations. The young people were murdered while traveling in a vehicle.
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The event occurred at approximately 02:00 this Thursday, January 16, 2025, on Eugenio Espejo and Zaruma streets, in the José Mayón citadel of the Huaquillas cantonin the province of El Oro.
According to witnesses, the couple was traveling in a gray car and were intercepted by armed men riding a motorcycle, who shot repeatedly at the vehicle and fled.
The noise of the gunshots caused residents to come out of their homes and see the vehicle with multiple bullet holes and, inside, the bodies of Sánchez and Hernández. After that they notified the ECU-911 of Machala.
Finding evidence
Minutes after the report, police officers confirmed the death of the couple. Staff of the Directorate of Violent Deaths (Dinased) and Criminalistics recovered the bodies and collected more than 12 ballistic evidence, as the first actions to clarify this double crime. The victims, according to the data collected, were calm people.
Woman had received threats
Preliminary investigations indicate that Sánchez had returned to Huaquillas from Loja to pick up his vehicle, which he had under repair.
But on the other hand, the agents also learned from those close to Hernández that she had recently separated from her partner, and he had threatened to kill her. Investigators are also looking into whether the couple may have been confused.
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