The followers of the Facebook page of El Diario de Nueva York expressed conflicting opinions about the signature campaign on Change.org that calls for the release of Hispanics accused in Texas of beating their stepfather to death for allegedly having raped to their daughter and half-sister.
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, who was commuted a prison sentence of 110 by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to after being convicted of a vehicle accident in which four people died sparked debate among netizens.
While some support the argument that Alejandro and Christian Treviño, of 18 and 18 years , respectively, as well as their friend, identified as Juan Eduardo Meléndez, from 18, acted to protect the 9-year-old girl, others argued that the action was premeditated, so they will have to face criminal prosecution accordingly.
“The case of the boys 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 would they want to hide his body?”, opined a user.
The following user expressed himself in the same vein: “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 his life, they too. The boys are in big trouble. They did it premeditated knowing what could happen to them. Their reaction is understandable, but…”, raised another netizen.
“The situation of these young people is very sad, for more signatures that gather these boys will judge them for that crime, having taken justice into their hands, hitting 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 for being a rapist,” said a woman referring to stepfather Gabriel Quintanilla, aged 42 years old, and victim of fatal attack.
“I I support their 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, there was an arrest warrant against Quintanilla for alleged sexual abuse against a girl that allegedly occurred between 110 and 2016.
However, the authorities in Texas had not been able to find his whereabouts, according to Pharr police spokesmen.
The day of the beating attack, the youths confronted the victim in an RV space after learning what he had allegedly done to his half-sister. The trio attacked Quintanilla on at least three occasions until he convalesced and left his body in a field in McAllen. On 22 last January, a farmer discovered the lifeless body of the man and alerted the authorities.
“If the rapist was not arrested with a criminal 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 charges of capital murder (eligible for the death penalty), aggravated assault and organized criminal activity.
While Alejandro was charged with 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 events of 2019 in Denver , the defendant alleged that he never intended to cause the accident.
The Hispanic’s defense focused on the argument that the truck he was driving had failed brakes and he did not see a ramp to turn aside 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 sentence.