Reckless homicide in Lima: mother sentenced for leaving sick son alone who died
The Supreme Court confirmed that the defendant could foresee the risk when abandoning her sick son without notifying any family member. The minor had fallen and suffered injuries on three previous occasions.
Supreme Court upholds conviction for reckless homicide following death of minor in Lima
The Criminal Chamber of Peru's Supreme Court, with Supreme Judge César San Martín Castro as reporting judge, rejected the nullity appeal filed by Ariana Josselyn Taype Zuazo and upheld her conviction to thirteen years of custodial sentence for the offence of parricide in the form of improper omission, according to lpderecho.pe.
The first instance sentence, issued on 8 June 2017, also set civil compensation of fifteen thousand soles in favour of the relatives of the injured minor, identified as Lihan Leandro Manuel Tinoco Taype.
The facts underpinning the conviction
The fourteenth ground of the ruling establishes that the accused was in a position to foresee the danger to her son's life at the moment she left him alone in a room adjoining the one occupied by the child's father. The Chamber highlighted three central elements: the minor's delicate state of health, the history of three falls with previous injuries, and the failure to notify the mother or another family member before leaving the home.
"The defendant did not act diligently," the ruling states. That lack of diligence, the resolution adds, had already been evident in the previous occasions when the victim suffered falls and injuries.
Legally disapproved risk
The Court applied the criteria of internal and external duties of care to establish criminal responsibility. The tribunal determined that Taype Zuazo's conduct created a legally disapproved risk and that there is a direct relationship between that conduct contrary to the standard of care and the result of death. The ruling expressly specifies that this was not an unforeseeable risk.
The defence's arguments were rejected
In her nullity appeal, the accused requested acquittal of the charges. She alleged that she lied in preliminary proceedings because she was threatened by Luis Tinoco Chipana, the child's father, to remain silent, and that she feared reprisals because he was a violent person. She also maintained that Tinoco Chipana was responsible for the child's death, that she was not present when the minor fell from the bed, and that malice in her conduct was not substantiated.
The defence also argued that she only left the minor in the care of Tinoco Chipana, knowing of his violent character, and questioned the consistency of the factual allegation. All these arguments were rejected by the Chamber.
The ruling corresponds to file RN 2174-2017, issued in Lima on 23 January 2018.
Source: Google News PE — Lima