Single Mother Shot Dead By Partner For Wanting To Move To Spain
An Argentinian 28-year-old mother of one allegedly shot dead by her violent boyfriend told her mother days before the killing that she wanted to leave him and go to Spain but : “He is very jealous, I can’t take it anymore.”
Victim Ferni Cristina Ayala Palacios was shot twice in the chest in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 19th February.
The killing was discovered after Ferni’s sister lost contact with her and filed a missing persons report with police.
When officers entered her home, Ferni – a Paraguayan national – had been dead for hours.
Investigators quickly identified her partner, convicted murderer Esteban Rojas Almada, as the prime suspect.
He had been seen arguing with her hours before the crime.
He is now wanted for aggravated murder.
A source from the investigation told local media: “We are looking for him, but he had many hours, almost an entire day, to escape: from the early morning of the crime until the discovery of the body.
“We suspect that he may have gone to Paraguay and we also know that he has money.”
Paraguayan Rojas, 45, reportedly owns the apartment block where the killing took place and is believed to have disconnected the security cameras before the shooting.
His ex-wife is said to live in a flat in the block with a daughter.
Residents reported seeing Ferni and Rojas arriving home after a night of partying with Ferni’s sister and pals.
They then recalled seeing Rojas leaving alone by car later on.
Ferni’s sister, Clara, told local media that one of the group told Rojas: “Take care of her [Ferni] because she is a good girl. Value her. She suffered a lot in her previous relationship.”
Clara added: “I’m not sure if he mentioned my sister’s ex and that’s what upset Rojas, but he told the guy: ‘You mention him again and I’ll break your head. Something like that.’ I think that’s what triggered all of this.”
But Ferni’s mother believes the killing was longer in the making.
She told local media: “I knew that he was monitoring her phone and that’s why sometimes she wouldn’t answer or would take a long time to respond.
“One day, I talked to her about it and she told me that she wanted to go to Spain.”
Chillingly – she said – Ferni told her days before her death: “He is very jealous, I can’t take it anymore.”
Her mother told her to move out of her home and in with her.
But Ferni replied: “I can’t go because within 15 minutes he calls me asking where I am.”
The mother added: “I have a lot of hate inside because he seemed like a good person. He destroyed my life, killed my daughter and destroyed a family.”
Ferni leaves behind a 10-year-old son from a previous relationship.
She had been living with Rojas for seven months but they had been together for more than a year.
Rojas, who is now subject to an Interpol red notice, has a criminal record for violence against women and homicide, according to Ferni’s other sister, Alicia.
Alicia said he spent four years in prison for the latter crime.
Ferni had posted a tender snap of herself with Rojas’s arm around her to Facebook early on 19th February.
She had captioned the selfie: “Sweetie.”
Alicia said: “Something was wrong: we noticed that he was very jealous. He would check her phone, and when it rang or she received a message, he was attentive.
“He killed her out of jealousy.”