Sergio Medardo Montoya Hidalgo, 47, died yesterday at the Guayaquil hospital, in the suburb, after two days of agony with a bullet lodged in his back, relatives indicated this Monday morning at the morgue of the Judicial Police.
Montoya’s was one of seven violent deaths registered in the last hours. In three of these cases, the attack was linked to the theft of their belongings, the uniformed and family members detailed.
According to figures from the National Directorate of Crimes against Life, as of December 27, 675 violent deaths have been registered in Zone 8, which includes Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón.
Sergio’s brother-in-law commented that the incident occurred in Durán last Friday, December 24.
“He went to work, went to look for his taxi, left with his cell phone in hand, about two guys on a motorcycle passed by, one of them wanted to rip off the cell phone and my brother-in-law grabbed the cell phone so hard that it caused the subject to fall off the motorcycle. Then my brother-in-law kept the cell phone in his hand and the subject pointed it at him, he only managed to turn and the bullet fell through his back, into his lung. They took his cell phone anyway ”.
He added that after an hour an ambulance arrived and took him to the Guayaquil hospital. However, they were not notified to extract the bullet. He commented that yesterday they were informed that he had died of a cerebrovascular arrest.
Another case was that of the young taxi driver Howard Ibarra. His relatives, who were in the Guayaquil morgue this morning, commented that he disappeared last Thursday.
His aunt said that the young man called his mother at night to heat his food because he had already finished the races of his day, however, he never arrived. “We made the complaint the next day, more because the vehicle in which he worked appeared dismantled in the suburb. Imagine. His belongings were gone, he was gone and it was only last night that we found him as we did not want: in the Salado estuary, ”she lamented.
“We made the complaint the next day, more because the vehicle in which he worked appeared dismantled in the suburb. Imagine. His belongings were gone, he was gone and it was only last night that we found him as we did not want: in the salty estuary ”, she lamented.
Uniformed officers indicated that some crabmen from the estuary found the body of the young taxi driver, who was bound and that the autopsy would determine the cause of death.
Relatives assured that he had no enemies, that he orphaned an 11-year-old girl.
Another of those killed by alleged robbery was a man in a store in southern Guasmo. Those close to the victim commented that he was doing some shopping and some men came to steal. The victim was taken to the Guasmo hospital, where he died hours later.
In addition to these cases, four other murders were also reported in the last hours. One was registered yesterday at the 31 de Agosto cooperative, in Mapsingue Oeste. Uniformed, they identified him as Jorge Servio Granda Álvarez.
Another event occurred at the Antonio José de Sucre cooperative, in Durán. And around 11:00 p.m. the murder of two people was reported in block 6 of Flor de Bastión, in the northwest of Guayaquil. Both victims had no identification. (I)

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