Spain: A 14-year-old girl of Ecuadorian parents murdered

Flags and white balloons waved in the sky, while teachers and students of La Eria Public School fired Erika Yunga Alvarado, a girl of Ecuadorian origin murdered in Spain.

Erika, born in Spain and to Ecuadorian parents, was savagely attacked in Vallobín, a neighborhood of Oviedo, located northwest of the city. Last Tuesday, the girl left her classes as usual accompanied by four of her friends to her house on Vázquez de Mella street, where her killer was waiting for her. Erika, she was barely 14 years old. The perpetrator of the crime was a neighbor of the girl, who constantly harassed her.

The victim of this heinous crime was met by her attacker on the stairs of the building where she lived in an apartment with her family. Her perpetrator is a 32-year-old Moldovan, who killed her with viciousness and cruelty, giving her several deadly cuts with a knife. After the attack, the murderer locked himself together with his victim in a rented apartment where he had been living for only three weeks.

John, Erika's older brother, discovered the product of the attack, after noticing that his sister was delaying to climb the stairs after ringing the bell. When he went out to meet his sister and after searching for her in the building, he saw Erika's jacket lying on the ground and soaked in blood. A macabre reddish trail connected a pool of blood to a neighbor's door. The police tried to enter the door, but to no avail. This forced the gendarmes to enter through a window climbing up the walls of an adjoining courtyard.

Inside the house raided by the police, the teenager was found dying, while the perpetrator had at least 20 self-inflicted injuries to different parts of the body, according to investigations. Early reports also indicate that a perpetrator was found in a state of marked mental imbalance.

The suspect was taken to the Central University Hospital of Asturias, where he is receiving medical attention. The victim's body was transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine.

The family, originally from Ecuador, moved to Spain more than two decades ago and have since lived in Oviedo, a city in northwestern Spain, capital of the Principality of Asturias, nestled between the mountains of Cantabria and the Bay of Biscay.

Alba, Erika's mother, learned the bad news while working at the Maria Immaculada women's residence, where she worked as a receptionist.

After collecting testimonies, analyzing surveillance cameras from surrounding businesses on Erika's journey to her home, studying the perpetrator's history of sexual assault on other victims, studying the crime scene and evaluating the fingerprint examination of the knife found at the scene, the Corps National Police found sufficient evidence to charge the Moldavian for the murder of the 14-year-old girl.

The delegate of the Government of Spain for the region of Asturias, Delia Losa Carballido, confirmed during a rally of residents from Oviedo that she met in rejection of the heinous crime that the investigators have sufficient evidence to blame the perpetrator and solve the crime.

The director of La Eria Public School, Emma Álvarez, ratified the devastation that the news of this tragedy has produced among the teachers and students of her institute. He said that it is very difficult for everyone to accept what happened, that it is a serious blow and that Erika's friends “are broken”. The board also confirmed that there is a psychological counseling team working with the students who made a large black ribbon that was hung next to the school door with the caption: “Erika, we love you. You're not alone. We miss you.”

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