The autopsy confirmed that Ilan Mareco Vázquez, the eight-year-old boy found dead in his home in Santa Ana, Misiones, died as a result of a stab wound to the neck. His mother, 39 years old, was discharged from the hospital and remains detained as the main accused of the crime.
The preliminary result of the forensic study was added to the case file, which is being investigated as an aggravated homicide due to the relationship. The minor had been found during the morning of Monday on a bed, inside the house where he lived with his mother and his two sisters, aged 15 and 12.
The crime scene
The teenagers woke up to the screams and ran out of the house to ask for help. According to the testimonies gathered, they managed to see how their mother attacked the boy with a piece of wood and a knife.
When the neighbors entered the house, they found the minor with numerous injuries. In the same place was the woman, identified as María Marco, with cuts on her neck that she reportedly inflicted on herself after the attack.
The accused was initially transferred to the Santa Ana Hospital and later referred to the Ramón Madariaga School Hospital in Posadas. After being discharged, she was placed under special custody to prevent her from attempting to take her life again. She will now have to give a statement before the intervening judge.
At the crime scene, investigators seized a knife and a mallet. Both objects will be subjected to examinations to determine if they were used during the attack. A letter that is believed to have been written by the woman was also found and has been included as evidence.
The murder occurred amid a prolonged family conflict. Manuel Vázquez, the boy's father, stated that the previous Thursday he had gone to a police station after being assaulted by his partner.
Manuel Vázquez, father of the boy
“She attacked me, she lifted me off the bed with punches. I grabbed my things and left,” he recounted. According to his testimony, at the police station he was informed that the process would be sent to the court only after the holidays of July 9 and the bridge Friday. “This Monday we faced the tragedy,” lamented the man, who was working in a nearby town when he received the news of his son's death.
Relatives of the minor also stated that the three children received physical punishments. An aunt claimed that the woman would beat them “with a belt and with a club,” although there were no previous reports of violence against the children in official records.
