Two men sentenced to 14 and 16 years for beating homeless man to death in Oberá
Oberá Criminal Court 1 found Franco Paz and Sergio Valenzuela guilty of the homicide of Miguel Ángel García, who was attacked while sleeping in August 2024.
Convicted of homicide in Oberá: they beat a sleeping street dweller to death
Franco Ezequiel Paz, aged 25, and Sergio Fabián Valenzuela, aged 36, were sentenced this Tuesday to 14 and 16 years in prison respectively as co-perpetrators of the homicide of Miguel Ángel García, a 58-year-old homeless man. According to elterritorio.com.ar, the sentence was handed down by Criminal Court 1 of Oberá, composed of judges Horacio Paniagua, David Milicich and substitute magistrate Graciela Heppner.
García was attacked in the early morning hours of 21 August 2024 whilst sleeping at the entrance to Rentas, on Avenida Sarmiento near Calle 12 de Octubre, in the heart of Oberá. He suffered a serious head injury. Days after being admitted to Ramón Madariaga Hospital in Posadas, he died without regaining consciousness.
Punches, kicks and a stick
The court accepted the reconstruction presented by the prosecution: García was attacked with punches, kicks and, apparently, with a stick, mainly to the head, whilst lying down in a position that prevented him from defending himself. The incident occurred shortly after 3 in the morning.
The higher sentence was imposed on Valenzuela because he has a prior criminal conviction for aggravated robbery.
The key testimony of an eyewitness
One of the central testimonies was from Javier Alarcón, also a homeless person, who said he witnessed the attack. "Paz and Valenzuela lost control. The two of them were hitting him all over, with kicks to the head and body," he told the court. He added that the assault lasted for several minutes and that García had done nothing to provoke it. "He didn't do anything, he couldn't defend himself, he was already an old man. He was lying down when they were hitting him," he stated. Alarcón also recounted that Valenzuela grabbed him by the neck when he tried to help the victim.
Jorge Antúnez, who also lives on the street, testified that he arrived at the scene with his partner, Graciela Suárez, alerted by someone known as "Porteño". Although he clarified that he did not witness the entire assault, he identified Paz and Valenzuela as the attackers: "I knew them, they were always around the street, at the traffic lights". Antúnez further stated that he was hit with a stick when he came to García's defence, and that the victim himself managed to tell him that "the two of them hit him and kicked his head because they wanted money". According to his account, they also took the money he was carrying: around 60 pesos.
Suárez recalled that upon arriving she saw Valenzuela holding Alarcón by the neck, and that Paz attacked her when she tried to intervene. Although she did not witness the exact moment of the beating, she testified that after the incident García left, lay down and "did not get up again".
The three alerted a police patrol
The three witnesses sought help and alerted a patrol stationed at a YPF petrol station located a few metres away. Officers Alberto de Oliveira, Jonathan Almada, Brenda Mierez and Yoana Schunke confirmed that the group informed them about the beating and pointed to Paz as one of the attackers. At that moment, García was still conscious. The officers stated that they did not notice visible injuries in those seeking help and offered them medical assistance, but these people responded that they would go to report the matter on their own. Mierez told the judges that they knew Paz from previous incidents related to fights and assaults.
Found at daybreak in the gallery
Daniel Meza, porter at Galería Oberá, found García lying down when he arrived for work that morning. "He was lying in the space where I came to clean. He was breathing, but not moving," he recalled. He explained that those who were with the victim tried to make him react by throwing water on him. A young woman who passed by the location went to the First Police Station and shortly afterwards a patrol arrived. "They said he was drunk because he was wet, but I explained to them that they had thrown water on him and that he wasn't moving," Meza stated. The officers requested an ambulance and García was transported to Samic Hospital. The porter clarified that he did not notice blood or visible bruises on the man's face at that time.
The escape and the victim's collapse
According to the reconstruction presented at trial, after the assault Paz and Valenzuela fled the scene. García, accompanied by Antúnez, Suárez, Alarcón and another man known as Daniel, walked in the opposite direction. They passed the YPF, continued towards the casino, reached the Shell station and crossed the street. It was at the corner of Sarmiento and Salta where García lost consciousness. He never regained awareness. Admitted to Ramón Madariaga Hospital in Posadas, he died days later from the head injury suffered during the attack.
Source: Google News BO — La Paz