From quarrels to stabbings, this was the group crime in a conflictive neighborhood of Huelva

The Huelva neighborhood of El Torrejón was the scene of an unprecedented group crime that is at the gates of trial. This is one of the conflictive areas of Huelva due to drug trafficking, which has witnessed shooting confrontations between rival clans in recent years.. In September 2020 all the alarms went off between Azahar and Clavel streets: the death of AFJ. (nicknamed 'el chino') at the hands of a group occurred in the street, in broad daylight. The telephones of the National Police and Emergencies 112 Andalusia did not stop ringing. This neighborhood of streets named after flowers was a powder keg between races, cries of threats or for help, and a man prostrate on the road.. One of those calls had reported that a person was being stabbed. Now there are eleven defendants.

The Investigating Court number 3 of Huelva, in charge of the investigation, has confirmed the continuation of the procedure by the Jury Court -the case is pending the response to an appeal by the Provincial Court-, considering that there are indications that the investigated acted “jointly, confusedly and riotously”, specifically in his car, an attack in which men and women participated.

In an initial accusation – qualification is pending -, the Prosecutor's Office charges five of those implicated with homicide and the remaining six attributes a crime of serious injuries, while the private prosecution, brought by the victim's family through His legal representative, the lawyer Marcos García Montes, qualifies the participation of all those accused of murder, with treachery of ambush and cruelty.

What happened that day? Between the victim and the defendant whom the investigation points to as the alleged perpetrator of the fatal stab wound, there was a problem due to humidity – both lived in the same building – and some threats would have been crossed, according to the record, one more element in the hotbed of feuds between adversary families. That September 16, the confrontations increased and a brawl broke out: “el chino” was attacked not only with bladed weapons (knives, knives), they also attacked him with sticks, a baseball bat and even a cobblestone while they were followed by the streets, until he was left dejected in the road.

Upon arrival to shield the neighborhood, the National Police found a crowd of people who were throwing all kinds of objects, from stones to chairs and tables, and a man who was trying to revive another who was injured, on the ground, with a knife under his body.

Based on the content of the report, which includes the actions of the Police, as well as the weapons and objects found at the scene, the statements of a witness and the acting agents, as well as the autopsy report and the results of the DNA study, The instructor maintains that “there are more than enough indications that a collective attack took place” against AFJ, in the course of which he suffered various injuries, including one by a knife that caused his death. It considers that, at this procedural moment, the joint participation of those investigated is maintained.

There is a difference of criteria between the accusations. While the legal representation of the family estimates that “all those investigated could have acted in concert to cause the death”, from the Public Prosecutor's Office it is considered that “only some of them acted in such a way while others acted with the sole intention of injuring , contributing to the defenselessness of the victim”.

The instructor emphasizes that the indications of participation of those involved in the attack on AFJ. must be related to the autopsy report, which highlights that the victim had up to 27 different injuries. Different instruments had been used (cylindrical objects, canes, blunt weapons with a knife) with a blade width of about 2.5 centimeters, which stabbed him from behind and hit his heart.. “The injuries seem to have been caused by blows made by different objects and in some cases with great virulence,” he stresses..

As for the situation of those involved, all free, García Montes regrets that “We have requested admission to prison and we have been denied”. The court maintains, in this sense, that the circumstances that were taken into account at the time to agree on the provisional release of those investigated in different resolutions have not changed, and that they are complying with the judicial appeals. “The holding of the appearance -for the initial accusations- does not in itself increase the risk of flight”, he affirms to add that “the social alarm that caused the event cannot be taken into account to modify the personal situation [of the defendants]”.

The court required a bond of 250,000 euros from those investigated in the case to ensure the responsibilities that could be imposed on them. In response to the request for dismissal by the defenses, the court denied it, emphasizing that “the victim could have been attacked by various people, in an excessive way, finally ending his life the specific author of the aforementioned wound caused with a knife while the rest of the group of people was able to actively participate in the aggression in a brutal way, with the aim of attempting against his life, undermining his integrity and/or diminishing the possibility of defense of the aforementioned.”.

The same court keeps two cases open for shootings between families in the neighborhood, without injuries or victims. It was several months before the crime and during 2019, when other shooting clashes between clans took place in El Torrejón.