Marisol has been without Yandry or Braulio for a year, her son and grandson were shot in the south

A burst of shots was confused with the explosion of cameras during the burning of stick figures at midnight on Thursday, January 6, 2022.

Amid the noise of the neighbors, the darkness and the orange flashes of the fire, Marisol Tapia, 48, only felt that something was burning her chest until she fell on the road at 33rd and Capitán Nájera streetsin the western suburb of Guayaquil.

Her 11-year-old grandson Braulio Alexander fell to one side and her 9-year-old son Yandry also collapsed near both of them..

The three were fired from 2.23-caliber and 9-millimeter rifles by hitmen who arrived in a car looking for Braulio Alexander’s father, according to Miguel Naranjo, head of the Portete district.

Marisol was taken to the Guayaquil hospital; Braulio died immediately from the wounds to his chest and legs, while Yandry, with a bullet to the head, was transferred to the Francisco de Ycaza Bustamante hospital.. “I was in a coma for 24 days and 3 in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), my brothers told me that the doctors said that only a miracle could save me. When I left the hospital, they had already buried my grandson, ”says Marisol on the afternoon of Friday, January 13, when we found her sitting next to several relatives on the sidewalk of her house, a few meters from the site of the tragedy.

From there, she looks at how the days have passed since that fateful night when ‘the world came crashing down on her’. The days are no longer the same since Yandry died, after being hospitalized for 40 days. “I did my part, to recover in the hospital, because I felt desperate for my baby, who was the last one, she was 9 years old.”

He stays silent, takes a deep breath, and wipes away his tears. When they discharged her, Marisol managed to see Yandry in the hospital.

My son lost an eye, he lost an ear, my baby was practically not going to live, but my family’s struggle was so great that they thought of a miracle from God. Imagine, I’m talking to you right now, I don’t know why I’m telling you, I still haven’t assimilated this topic

Marisol Tapia

On the sidewalk of her house, Marisol watches the hours go by and the children who go to school. Her heart shrinks from remembering that Yandry was in fifth grade, he enjoyed the meals she made for him and that he won’t see him anymore.

“Sometimes I have said: Lord, why didn’t you take my life, why did you take my son’s life, he was an innocent child who did not deserve to die that way. They took my life, the most beautiful thing I had in my life. If I’m alive, I don’t understand how”, wonders Marisol, a believing woman who leans on God to continue each day and who has the name of her beloved Yandry tattooed on her right arm, in addition to the date of his birth and the death of her

Nothing consoles her, not even the possibility of finding justice. “There are no detainees, we filed a complaint against both of them, but one already died, six months later they killed him, the one we filed a complaint with; the other is alive, but he has not yet been arrested. The case is still under investigation,” complains Marisol, who has been called to give a version to the Prosecutor’s Office.

His daughter even took the police to the homes of the perpetrators, but they fled. “I do cry, sometimes I look at the sky and say where are you my child, give me a sign to know that you are okay.” (YO)