The Public Ministry (MP) filed an appeal against the resolution of the Criminal Court of First Instance of Quetzaltenango, which declared lack of merit in favor of four men arrested for their alleged connection with the death of Michelle Barreno, 33 years old.
According to the MP, the Quetzaltenango District Prosecutor’s Office began the investigation after the armed attack that occurred on June 20 in zone 10 of Quetzaltenango, in which Barreno passed away.
In relation to that case, the court ruled that there was not enough evidence to link those identified by the MP as alleged aggressors Walter Carrera Téllez, Edwin Alexander Martínez Téllez, Miguel Ángel Córdoba López and Juan Santizo Cumes to the trial, who regained their freedom after the first statement hearing. The judge considered that the evidence presented by the MP was not sufficient to link them to proceedings for the crime of murder.
The MP maintains that there is evidence to investigate the four men, which is why the appeal was filed. In addition, he said that the file was transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office against the Crime of Femicide, with the aim of strengthening the investigation procedures and due to the nature of the facts.
The day of the armed attack
The four men were captured minutes after the armed attack. The arrest was recorded in zone 9 of Quetzaltenango, when they were traveling in a pick-up truck that, according to the preliminary investigation, would have been used to flee the scene of the attack.
During the operation, agents of the National Civil Police seized three pistols, a Maverick shotgun and five cell phones, evidence that remains under the protection of the Public Ministry and is awaiting ballistic analysis.
According to the first hypotheses of the investigation, the case could be related to a debt acquired through loans under the drop-by-drop modality.