Life sentence for double femicide in Florencia, Ciego de Ávila
The Provincial Court of Ciego de Ávila sentenced Adrián Cruz Díaz to life imprisonment for murdering his ex-partner and her new partner in August 2025.
Life sentence for murder of ex-partner and her new relationship in Ciego de Ávila
The Provincial Popular Court of Ciego de Ávila imposed a life sentence on Adrián Cruz Díaz for the murder of Marialina García Borroto, his ex-partner, and Abel Morales Castro, who maintained a romantic relationship with her. The sentence was announced on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, according to periodicocubano.com.
The crimes occurred in August 2025 in the municipality of Florencia. The court itself confirmed the sentence through a statement regarding case number 84 of 2026. The identity of the convicted person and the victims was revealed by Luis Alberto Medina Vega in a publication linked to the Ministry of the Interior in Ciego de Ávila.
The proceedings were handled by the First Criminal Chamber. Cruz Díaz was found guilty following an oral and public trial, in which his responsibility for the acts was established.
The case had come to light on 26 August 2025, when reports circulated about the murder of a couple inside a home in Florencia. Reports from that time indicated that the victims were attacked with a bladed weapon and that the aggressor was the woman's ex-partner, who had previously served a sentence for murder. This information, however, was not corroborated in the judicial statement released this week.
The authorities did not specify how the arrest was made, what the decisive evidence was, or what aggravating circumstances led the court to impose the maximum penalty.
The case reignites the debate over violence against women by partners or ex-partners. Periodicocubano.com had previously documented the murder of Didiannys Barreto Palmero, aged 34, which occurred in September allegedly at the hands of her ex-partner in Ceballos, also in Ciego de Ávila, leaving two girls orphaned. In May, the same outlet reported the murder of Gloria Almanza Céspedes, a 52-year-old Havana schoolteacher who had previously reported her ex-partner to the police.
The Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas recorded 54 femicides in Cuba during 2026 through the end of September, in addition to dozens of attempted murders for sexist motives. These figures come from independent verifications and may be updated.
Feminist platforms have questioned the absence of complete public statistics and the lack of comprehensive legislation against gender-based violence, according to previous reports from the same outlet.
Cruz Díaz's conviction constitutes a criminal response to the double murder, although the limited information released about the proceedings leaves unanswered questions about the circumstances of the crime and the actions of the institutions.
Source: Google News CU — Crime