Young bicycle-taxi driver murdered in Havana while defending her livelihood
Heidy León Domínguez died on Thursday in Havana while resisting the theft of her bicycle-taxi, according to reports on Facebook. Two young women accompanying her were seriously wounded.
Murder of bicycle-taxi driver in Havana sparks outrage on social media
A young self-employed worker identified as Heidy León Domínguez was murdered on Thursday night in Havana when she attempted to prevent the theft of her bicycle-taxi, according to public reports spread on Facebook by relatives and activists. Cubanet.org reported the case based on those posts. Two young women who were with her at the time of the assault were seriously wounded. As of press time, Cuban authorities had not issued any official statement.
"Brothers, I don't even know how to break this horrible news, last night my friend was murdered (…). She fought like a lioness defending her bicycle-taxi (her livelihood). Two young women who were with her when it happened are also seriously wounded," wrote Dyango Pulido Vives, the victim's friend, on Facebook. The message was widely shared by media outlets and groups on the social network.
Activist Yamilka Laffita, known on social media as Lara Crofs, also posted a public report: "Another victim taken from us by the enormous violence unleashed in Havana. She defended her means of sustenance, a bicycle-taxi, as much as she could, to prevent the crime." Laffita also noted that León Domínguez was the mother of an eight-year-old girl.
Profile of the victim and context
Recent posts by León Domínguez herself in Facebook groups dedicated to tricycle transport placed her in the neighbourhood of Altahabana, in the Boyeros municipality of the capital, and confirmed that she worked in that sector.
The homicide occurs in a context of growing insecurity in Cuba. A report by the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory (OCAC), released by Cuba Siglo 21, speaks of a "historic record of criminality" in 2025 and details increases in robberies, assaults and murders. Similar cases illustrate the vulnerability of those who work in light transport: in September, independent media reported the murder of a bicycle-taxi driver in Bayamo during an assault, and in Havana violent robberies of motorcycles and bicycles have been reported, including alerts from women affected by these crimes.
Official details are not available regarding the exact location of the attack, the current condition of the two wounded young women, or whether anyone has been detained. "We demand justice for Heidy and the people affected. We urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and for those responsible to face the consequences of their actions," demanded Laffita.
Feminicide or murder during robbery?
Based on the available information—an assault for the purpose of theft—it is not possible to classify the crime as feminicide. UN Women, cited by the Gender Observatory of the journal Alas Tensas (OGAT), defines feminicide as the "intentional murder of a woman because she is a woman". The classification requires establishing gender-based motives and, in the most widely accepted definition, is usually linked to intimate relationships or specific contexts of sexist violence.
According to the joint methodology of OGAT and the YoSíTeCreo platform in Cuba, in order to register a homicide as feminicide, observers must "identify the gender bias": at least one element that allows concluding that the cause of the violence was the fact that the victim was a woman. Only when that bias is proven does the case get incorporated into the corresponding typology.
That same methodology includes the category of "social feminicide", defined as the "murder of a woman by a man with whom she had no romantic or family relationship". OGAT has further clarified that this category is "of a non-sexual nature"; when sexual violence is involved, the applicable classification would be sexual feminicide, not social.
The organisation also warns that "not all murders of women during robberies constitute feminicides". As examples of indicators evaluated in previous cases, it points to circumstances such as when aggressors "waited for the victim to be alone and exercised excessive violence against her".
For León Domínguez's case to be classified as social feminicide by OGAT and YoSíTeCreo in Cuba, it would be necessary, at a minimum, to confirm that the attacker was a man with no intimate or family connection to the victim, to document at least one indicator of gender bias beyond the economic motive of the robbery, and to rule out the presence of sexual violence. The final determination depends on access to the criminal investigation and forensic evidence that the Cuban regime does not usually disclose.
OGAT and YoSíTeCreo in Cuba have confirmed 35 feminicides on the island so far in 2025 and at least 300 since 2019.
Source: Google News CU — La Habana