Jail over drug debt fight death

A 26-year-old Columbian man has been found guilty by a jury of stabbing to death a 28-yearold man over a €80 drug debt in Villajoyosa.

The guilty verdict by the jury was unanimous and was reached after five hours of deliberation and concludes that the defendant intentionally caused the death of the victim.

The jury rejected the claim of legitimate self-defence that his defence lawyer had presented and also rejected that he acted out of fear of the alleged threats made by the victim in the days leading up to the fight between the two men.

However, the jury acquitted the defendant of the crime of drug trafficking, as it did not consider it proven that the substances found in his home were intended for sale to third parties.

The fatal incident, which was recorded by the surveillance cameras of the apartment block in which the defendant lived, took place at around 13.40 on May 27, 2021, at the entrance of said block, days after he and the victim had an argument over an €80 debt which he had to pay to the victim as payment for two grams of cocaine for his own use.

This dispute was then prolonged through different conversations via WhatsApp, in which the accused challenged his opponent to resolve their differences personally in a fight.

The jury believes it is proven that, after this exchange of messages, the meeting between the accused and the victim took place in the doorway of the building where the former lived and that he was carrying a knife with an eightcentimetre blade hidden in his clothes. The deceased was carrying a machete.

After the reading of the verdict, both the public prosecutor's office and the private prosecution maintained the sentences initially requested, with the public prosecution asking for 12 years in prison and the private prosecution, exercised by the lawyer Ana Escobar Samaria on behalf of the victim’s mother requested a 15-year sentence.

For his part, the defence lawyer, Vicente Aznar, has been forced to modify his initial request for acquittal and has proposed that his client be sentenced to the minimum penalty for the crime of homicide, 10 years in prison.

The trial has been concluded pending sentencing by the presiding judge.