Police officer charged with killing colleague by accidental gunshot in Feliciano seeks trial
The prosecutor requested five years of effective imprisonment for Juan Carlos Cerrudo, accused of culpable homicide in the death of Sergeant César Benítez in September 2025.
Prosecutor seeks five years' imprisonment for police officer who killed colleague with rifle in Feliciano field
Assistant fiscal Nicolás Morabes, of the Feliciano Fiscal Unit, requested that Judge of Guarantees Emir Artero elevate the case to trial concerning the death of Sergeant César Raúl Benítez, an agent of the Livestock Theft Division of the Police, according to diarioriouguay.com.
Benítez was shot on 13 September 2025 and died three days later, on 16 September, at Hospital Masvernat in Concordia. The bullet was fired by his colleague Juan Carlos Cerrudo whilst handling a .22-calibre rifle inside the truck bed of a Ford F100 pickup truck at the rural establishment La Emilia, on Provincial Route No. 2, in the San José de Feliciano department.
The weapon discharged from the vehicle bed
According to the description of events incorporated in the fiscal request, both police officers had arrived at the La Emilia field for hunting purposes. Upon stopping the vehicle near Arroyo Feliciano, Benítez got down from the cabin and positioned himself on the right side of the truck. There he crouched down to tighten the laces of his boots, adopting the posture known as "kneeling", with his face oriented towards the side sheet of the vehicle.
At that moment, Cerrudo was in the truck bed handling the semi-automatic .22-calibre carbine. According to the accusation, he did so "with manifest imprudence, negligence, lack of skill in his profession and with a severe disregard for the fundamental safety regulations and standards governing the handling and manipulation of firearms for security force personnel".
The weapon discharged accidentally. The .22 LR projectile pierced the internal side sheet of the truck bed, passed through elements of the bodywork and exited through the right rear mud guard 88 centimetres from ground level. Upon exiting, it struck directly the left frontal region of Benítez's skull, causing an exposed fracture with massive loss of brain matter and severe head trauma.
Expert reports confirm trajectory of gunshot
Technical and forensic reports incorporated into the case determined that the shot originated from inside the truck bed towards the exterior. The forensic examinations recorded no signs of close-range shooting on the hands of those involved nor powder residue. The hole in the internal sheet—identified forensically as "Hole I3"—showed residues of lead, barium and antimony, which allowed the ballistic trajectory to be reconstructed.
The Prosecution noted that had elementary safety measures been observed—such as keeping the mechanical safety engaged, visually and mechanically checking the chamber or directing the barrel towards a risk-free area—the shot could have been avoided. "Due to careless, hasty handling and completely devoid of the most elementary precautions, Cerrudo accidentally triggered the firing mechanism", the text of the request stated.
Five years' effective imprisonment for culpable homicide
The Public Prosecution Service classified the act as culpable homicide, with Cerrudo as author, and requested a sentence of five years' imprisonment to be served in full. Morabes also requested that the case be referred to oral trial.
In analysing the evidence, the prosecution argued that it had been established "both the materiality or existence of the wrongful act, as well as Cerrudo's responsible participation in it".
Benítez was urgently transferred and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Hospital Masvernat in Concordia after receiving the impact, but "the severe neurological injuries inevitably determined his death", according to the Prosecution.
Source: Google News UY — Crime