Femicides in Puerto Rico 2026: figures disputed between Police and Procurator
The Procurator of Women reported 10 intimate femicides in 2026, while the Police record 11 and the Observatory for Gender Equality points to 12.
Discrepancy in the count of intimate femicides in Puerto Rico
Three different figures, one same tragedy. According to primerahora.com, the Procurator of Women, Astrid Piñeiro Vázquez, announced this Thursday at a press conference at La Fortaleza that 10 intimate femicides have been confirmed so far this year in Puerto Rico. However, official Police statistics record 11 deaths of women at the hands of their partner or ex-partner, and the Observatory for Gender Equality of Puerto Rico puts that figure at 12.
The difference is concentrated in two cases from last Sunday which, according to Piñeiro Vázquez, are still under investigation: one death in Yabucoa and another in Ponce.
Cases pending classification
"It is still too premature to reach a determination on the classification, since it is still under investigation. We are talking about the facts that occurred on 8 November, specifically, one of these being the body found in the municipality of Yabucoa and the other in Ponce," the Procurator declared, adding that the investigation is "quite advanced" but that it falls to the Police to provide the final findings.
The Police press officer, José Catalano García, reported that the Ponce crime—corresponding to Jazmine Rivera Roca, 42 years old—has already been classified as an intimate femicide, which raised the police count to 11 deaths. That figure represents four fewer than the 15 recorded for this same date in 2025. Throughout last year, 19 deaths of women and one of a man were reported due to gender-based violence.
The Peñuelas case, according to the Police, involved a convicted man who murdered his consensual partner and a mutual friend inside a vehicle before taking his own life with a firearm. The incidents occurred on Sunday at 10:30 p.m. on Calle Almendro, in the Sombras Real urbanisation, in Ponce.
Victims identified in Yabucoa and Guaynabo
The Yabucoa crime was also reported on Sunday, at approximately 3:45 a.m., in the Soto Monte sector of the Jagüeyes neighbourhood. The victim was identified as Yaneris Crespo Vázquez, 36 years old, a resident of San Lorenzo. In this case the femicide protocol was activated, although the Police have not yet determined the cause of death.
In addition, it is being investigated whether the death of a young woman in Guaynabo is related to gender-based violence. The body of Carla Enid Matos Delgado, 24 years old, was found last Thursday in an advanced state of decomposition at a residence in the Colinas Metropolitanas urbanisation. The Police are treating the case as death with undetermined cause.
The Observatory's report
The Observatory for Gender Equality of Puerto Rico published on Tuesday a report in which it counts 12 intimate femicides. The document details that among the cases are included "two attempted femicides and one disappearance that resulted in subsequent death; seven femicides followed by suicide of the perpetrator or attempted suicide; nine with firearms, at least five with a licence". The Observatory also notes that in one of the cases the aggressor was or had been a member of a security force. The group does not specify in its report the municipalities where the crimes occurred.
Alert ahead of the Christmas season
Despite the discrepancy in the numbers, the Procurator warned that historically femicides increase towards the close of the year. "Year after year, when we look back at history, we have realised that the numbers tend to spike from this time until the end of the year. Always, as the Christmas season approaches, this has increased," Piñeiro Vázquez stated.
The official called on the community to assume an active role in prevention. "We are all responsible for looking out for your cousin, your neighbour, your work colleague, and that when we notice strange things happening, that there are patterns of absenteeism, that there are patterns of them hiding behind sunglasses all the time, because they don't want people to see the blows or the bruises," she said.
Piñeiro Vázquez emphasised that statistics show that between January 2022 and June 2026, 90.5% of the victims of intimate femicides never contacted the Police nor sought a protection order. The Procurator highlighted this figure as a central argument for strengthening community education and early reporting.
Educational event next Tuesday
As part of prevention actions, the Procurator of Women announced an educational event for next Tuesday, called En Primera Línea. The event will have 300 in-person spaces and 500 online, aimed at first responders and agencies that provide services to victims of gender-based violence. The objective, according to Piñeiro Vázquez, is to coordinate available assistance and strengthen institutional response to this type of crime.
Source: Google News PR — Crime