Iris Velázquez / Reform Agency
Friday, January 27, 2023 | 20:06
Mexico City.-
After 2 years and 4 months, 24 hearings and 15 defense attorneys, Diego Urik Mañón Melgoza was found guilty of the femicide of Jessica González Villaseñor, a preschool teacher who lived in Michoacán.
This Friday, 856 days after the disappearance of the teacher, Judge Ariel Montoya Romero considered that there is sufficient evidence to prove the young man’s responsibility for this crime considered serious.
Verónica Villaseñor Ferreyra, Jessica’s mother, went to the hearing with a blue apron in her hands, the one her daughter wore to her classes.
Upon hearing the ruling in his favour, he burst into tears and asked for help to continue his fight, stating that this was only one more step, since a sentence has yet to be handed down.
When approached by journalists, she stressed that the justice authorities have been asked to impose the maximum and exemplary sentence, since even the judge disapproved of the level of violence observed in the murder of the young woman, who this year would be 24 years old.
“I think that there was more than explained and now the cruelty with which this guy ended Jessi’s life has been demonstrated. This actually does not end today, you know it does not end, but it does change everything. That damn is the murderer of my daughter,” he said.
“We already verified it, the more than 100 tests. Now, he is the murderer of my daughter and more than demonstrated the cruelty with which he treated her. The maximum penalty would not even be enough for the cruelty with which he treated her, but it is what least we’re going to get out of it.”
Before the judge, it was narrated that Diego Urik Mañón Melgoza, who was 18 years old at the time, passed by her on September 21, 2020, sexually assaulted her, murdered her, and dragged her to the forest in the southern area of Morelia.
His body was found on September 25 of that year with at least 31 blows.
The accused asked his friends for help to hide the body, but they refused. However, his family did support him and he managed to flee to Jalisco, where he was captured on September 30, 2020.
Diego’s family still doesn’t believe it
Family members of Diego Urik attended the hearing, who fought for his freedom with a strong legal defense.
According to activists, the now convicted man has had at least 10 lawyers who have sought to prolong the trial to buy time and plan strategies.
Jessica’s mother reported that the sentence will be handed down on February 3 and she disapproved of the fact that the parents overlapped the femicide behavior.
“It is more than eminent all the battle and all this time and seeing the faces of their parents who still do not believe it, when they had the same tests that I have had in their hands,” he said.
Likewise, he requested the protection of the authorities by affirming that the family of the accused has sufficient financial resources to act and fears some revenge.
“It was achieved, it was achieved, damn Diego did fall!” shouted feminists, who, seeing the lawyers and the defendant’s family leave, threw tomatoes at them, considering that they have sought to obstruct justice.
