Followers of El Diario de Nueva York’s Facebook page expressed mixed opinions about the signature campaign on Change.org calling for the release of Hispanics accused in Texas of beating their stepfather to death for allegedly having raped his daughter and half sister of both.
A publication on the social network of a news item from El Diario that compares the case of the Treviño brothers with that of the Cuban truck driver Rogel Lázaro Aguilera- Mederos, whom Colorado Governor Jared Polis, commuted a sentence of 110 in jail to 10 After being convicted of a vehicle accident in which four people died, he sparked debate among netizens.
While some hold the argument that Alejandro and Christian Treviño, 18 and 17 years old, respectively, as well as their friend, identified as Juan Eduardo Meléndez, 18, acted to protect the girl 9 years old, others argued that the action was premeditated so they will have to face criminal prosecution accordingly.
“The boys’ case is confused, why didn’t they call the police? They had to do that, not kill him and try to vote the body in one place. That’s what damages it. If they killed him by accident, why want to hide the body? “Opined a user.
The following user expressed the same line: “Rogel does deserve to be free, the others don’t. What they did, they did on purpose. No one can take your life, no matter the reason. No human being can take the life of another, that they pay for what they did, there are the consequences of their actions. They could have done something better, how to grab him, hit him and take him to the police or something else but not kill him.”
“If he was found in the act, I understand his attitude; but if it was later, someone must have thought and not harmed their lives too. The boys are in big trouble. They did it premeditated knowing what could happen to them. His reaction is understandable, but…” raised another netizen.
“The situation of these young people is very sad, no matter how many signatures they collect on these boys, they will be judged for this crime, having taken justice into their hands, beating him and abandoning him is very unfavorable for them. Unfortunately, no good intention justifies murder. The case of the truck driver is very different, because that day he left his house to work and he did not even imagine the tragedy that he was going to unintentionally cause that day,” argued another fan of El Diario in the comments section.
Others consider that the legal situation of the adolescents is unfair since they were trying to free the little girl from a rapist.
“This is an injustice what they do. With these children, they defended their sister, she deserved that as a rapist,” said a woman referring to stepfather Gabriel Quintanilla, 42, and victim of the deadly attack.
“I support your release, it is not fair that these young people go to jail for a rapist ”, seconded another.
“We want them at home, they did society a favor,” said another.
Since 2019, an arrest warrant was weighing against Quintanilla for alleged sexual abuse against a girl that allegedly occurred between 2014 and 2016.
However, authorities in Texas had not been able to find his whereabouts, Pharr police spokesmen confirmed.
The day of the beating attack, the youths confronted the victim in a trailer park after learning what he had allegedly done to his half-sister. The trio attacked Quintanilla on at least three occasions until leave him convalescing and leave his body in a field in McAllen. On January 22, a farmer discovered the man’s lifeless body and alerted the authorities.
“If the rapist was not arrested having a record, these boys did not wait for justice. Well, it wasn’t the right thing to do, but what we know is that this rapist can’t hurt anymore,” reads another comment on Facebook.
Both Christian and Meléndez face capital murder charges (eligible for death penalty), aggravated assault and organized criminal activity.
While Alexander was accused of Aggravated Assault and Organized Criminal Activity. The charges against the former are more serious since, according to the evidence handled by the authorities, they were the ones who dealt the blows that ended Quintanilla’s life.
In the case of Aguilera-Mederos, convicted of 27 criminal charges for the April 2019 events in Denver, the defendant alleged that he never intended to cause the accident.
Hispanic’s defense focused on the argument that the truck he was driving had failed brakes and he did not see a ramp to divert and thus avoid the chain accident that also caused an explosion.
In the case of the Cuban, the signature campaign on Change.org reached 5 million signatures. Polis decided to commute his sentence last December 30 in the midst of an intense debate on networks and two weeks before a court hearing was held to review the conviction.
eldiariony.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.