A young Ecuadorian sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing a thief

A 21-year-old boy was sentenced in the first instance to 10 years in prison for a homicide in Quito. This is Santiago Ortega Morales, whose performance went viral because he starred in a video in which he attacks the criminal who allegedly assaulted his sister. The malvivado later lost his life to the beatings.

It all happened on Sunday, August 23, 2020. Shantal Ortega, sister of Santiago, in her pregnancy, took over the family grocery store. That day, according to the relatives of the sentenced person, someone entered the family business around noon to try to steal money. Shantal shouted for help and Santiago, his younger brother, arrived. The young man chased and rammed the thief and then hit him a few times with a baseball bat. After the incident, the Ortega Morales continued their daily routine. Shantal recovered from her injuries and managed to give birth.

After the incident, Tania Morales, Santiago's mother, hired a lawyer, who told her that, based on the evidence, her son would be sentenced to 34 years in prison.

According to the testimonies of the relatives of Santiago Ortega, who was imprisoned at the El Inca Provisional Detention Center in northern Quito, the sentenced defended his pregnant sister from the attack of a man who assaulted and cut the woman several times with a knife while attending the family business. Ortega, who claims to have acted in self-defense, struck the assailant in his back and in the head with a baseball bat.

On February 6, 2021, the young man was arrested on charges of murder. The assailant had died from a cerebral hemorrhage, skull fracture and head trauma.

Ortega's defense seeks to defend the defendant's thesis of innocence by claiming that he exercised his right to defend himself, which, according to the Prosecutor's Office, has already been refuted with the evidence presented and resolved by a Criminal Guarantee Tribunal that considered that there was a previous plan to carry out the attack.

For the Prosecutor's Office, the now deceased was illegitimately and treacherously attacked. As a result of the beating, the assailant died. That same day, the police tried to arrest Ortega in flagrante delicto, but could not find him.

The trial hearing was set up on December 1, 2021. Attorneys for the prosecution presented their arguments and presented their documentary and expert evidence to support the charge of aggravated homicide against Santiago Ortega Morales.

The Criminal Guarantees Tribunal unanimously declared Ortega's guilt and the sentence of 10 years' imprisonment, resulting in the minimum penalty provided for in Ecuadorian criminal law for these cases. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the judges found no relation to the state of self-defense, which was alleged by the sentenced person's lawyer.

For legitimate defense to be justified, three conditions must be met: that aggression should be current and illegitimate, that there is a reasonable need for self-protection and that there is sufficient lack of provocation on the part of the defender. The court also imposed on Ortega a fine of $16,000, corresponding to 40 basic salaries, and a compensation of $10,000 to the relatives of the deceased.

The Prosecutor's Office alleged that instead of the alleged theft, the weapon with which Ortega's sister was allegedly assaulted was not found, nor the $80 stolen from the business. He also indicated that the attack on the now deceased did not take place in the grocery store, but several streets away, that the onslaught happens behind his back, treacherously, without any provocation and without giving him the opportunity to defend himself, which is what can be seen in the video released on social networks of internet.

The Prosecutor's Office requests that judges consider the aggravating circumstances and that the sentence of imprisonment be extended against the sentenced person to the rank of 26 to 34 years and 8 months of imprisonment.

The first instance appeal hearing, which was requested by the Prosecutor's Office and by the defence of the sentenced person, is scheduled for April 13, 2022.

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