Andreina Lamota, sentenced for killing her mother, also charged with murder of friend in Guayaquil
Andreína Lamota, condemned to 40 years for dismembering her mother, faces charges for killing her friend Jéniffer Banguera in 2022 over a debt of USD 25,000.
USD 25,000 debt allegedly motivated the murder of accountant who disappeared in 2022
Andreína Lamota, already sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing and dismembering her mother in October 2025, now faces judicial proceedings for the murder of her friend Jéniffer Juliana Banguera, who disappeared in January 2022. According to primicias.ec, the motive allegedly was the same in both crimes: a money debt.
"My sister was collecting a debt from her," declared Mauricio Banguera, the victim's brother. According to his testimony, Jéniffer had lent Lamota USD 25,000 in 2020, and when she began demanding payment, the relationship between the two deteriorated until Jéniffer disappeared.
Remains found in a suitcase with lime, eight blocks from the accused's apartment
Jéniffer Banguera, 28 years old and accountant for the Salitre health district, was last seen on 7 January 2022, when she attended a sleepover organised by Lamota at her apartment in the Sauces 9 residential complex in northern Guayaquil. She never returned home.
Her mother stated that the following day she received messages from Jéniffer's mobile phone: she said she was going to Salitre with a friend and would return that night. Those were the last known contacts. Family members filed a missing person report on 11 January 2022, although the mother requested its closure shortly afterwards—according to the forensic report, it was not Jéniffer who sent those messages.
On 26 July 2022, human remains in an advanced state of decomposition, found inside a suitcase with lime approximately eight blocks from the Sauces 9 apartment, were admitted as N.N. to Guayaquil's morgue. Four years later, after Lamota's arrest for her mother's murder, police officers found personal documents belonging to Jéniffer in that same apartment. With that lead, family members reactivated the report on 24 October 2025. Genetic testing confirmed that the remains belonged to Jéniffer Banguera.
The same cause of death: asphyxiation by strangulation
Both Jéniffer Banguera and Martha Solís—Lamota's 49-year-old mother—died from asphyxiation by strangulation. In Solís's case, the court determined that Lamota killed her because "she refused to give her USD 6,000". The 40-year sentence was issued for that crime.
Mauricio Banguera described the relationship between the two women: they had been friends for ten years, having met at university—both were accountants—and Lamota maintained a distant connection with the rest of the Banguera family. After Jéniffer's disappearance, the situation worsened. One week after the sleepover, Mauricio received a call from an acquaintance who was acting as an intermediary for Lamota: they asked him to bring Jéniffer's clothes to the apartment.
According to the brother, Lamota later used Jéniffer's credit cards to withdraw money: "Andreína began taking money from her and making cash advances with the credit cards my sister had, withdrawing USD 45,000 from the ATM". For Mauricio, the motive for the crime was the collection of the USD 25,000 lent.
Hearing suspended: Lamota did not appear from La Roca prison
The Public Prosecution Service was scheduled to bring charges at a hearing set for 5 October, but the proceeding was suspended because Andreína Lamota did not appear from the La Roca detention centre. The judge has yet to set a new date for the hearing.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil