Gabriel murder trial gets underway in Almeria

THE trial of the woman accused of killing eight-year old Gabriel Cruz in the Cabo de Gata national park gets going today, Monday, 18 months after the little boy died.

THE trial of the woman accused of killing eight-year old Gabriel Cruz in the Cabo de Gata national park got underway at the Almeria Provincial Court on Monday, 18 months after the little boy died.

A jury will decide whether Ana Julia Quezada murdered Gabriel or is guilty of reckless homicide.

The public prosecutor and the lawyer representing the child’s parents, Angel Cruz and Patricia Ramirez, are calling for Quezada to serve a maximum permanent reviewable prison sentence; she is the first woman in Spain to face what would mean life with a possibility of parole after a minimum fixed term.

The prosecution has also called for an additional 10 years behind bars for inflicting psychological harm on the Gabriel’s parents, payment of the more than €200,000 costs for the search operation for the young lad and some €800,000 to the family in damages.

Gabriel, known to his friends and family as Little Fish, went missing from close to his grandmother’s house in Las Hortichuelas near Nijar on February 27 2018. His disappearance sparked a huge search involving thousands of people, among them Quezada, who was the girlfriend of the boy’s father at the time.

Two weeks later police charged the 44-year old Dominican with killing Gabriel when they found his lifeless body in the boot of her car. Quezada claims she had not intended to kill the youngster and acted in self-defence after he attacked her.

The trial is scheduled to take place over nine sessions ending on September 19.