Jandry, 9 years old, and Braulio, 11 years old, appear embracing next to a cake while sharing a birthday celebration. That graphic can be seen on a poster displayed outside a house on 33rd and Capitan Najera streets, in the suburb of Guayaquil.
In that home, the joy and innocence of both minors is absent as a result of the violence that plagues Guayaquil. His relatives cry out to the authorities for justice and for an end to the wave of violence, which has tripled violent deaths so far this year in Zone 8, which is also made up of the cantons of Durán and Samborondón.
On January 6, on Three Kings Day, both minors (Jandry and Braulio) went on foot with their mother and grandmother Marisol to observe the burning of old people that would take place a few meters from the house, on the corner of the sector.
While they were moving towards that point they were in the middle of the crossroads of bullets that individuals aboard two cars executed against a group of people who were in the doorway of a house.
In the violent act, which —according to the investigations— was directed at other people who were in the doorway of a house, the two minors and the woman were hit by the projectiles.
Braulio, 11 years old, died at the scene from multiple bullet wounds in various parts of his body; while Jandry, 9 years old, was shot in the head and was admitted to the Francisco de Ycaza Bustamante hospital as an emergency.
Marisol was also hospitalized for a bullet that she received in the chest and affected one of her lungs. She remained in critical condition for two weeks, intubated, and on the 20th day she was discharged.
An 11-year-old minor was killed during a rifle attack on 33rd and Capitan Nájera; another child and a woman were injured
As she was fighting for her life in the hospital, she remembers praying to God that she would recover to care for the youngest of her five children, Jandry. Until that moment, she did not know what happened to him or to his grandson, Braulio.
“He has always been the apple of my eye. I asked the Lord for mercy to take care of my baby, I have been a father and mother to my son, I asked him to get me up from the hospital bed without knowing that my son was fighting between life and death in a hospital”, commented.
After 20 days, when he was discharged, he returned home. Her family did not know how to break the news that her son was in the hospital, that he had been hit by a bullet and that they had not been able to remove it.
After more than 40 days in critical condition, Jandry could not resist the bullet lodged in his head and died in the early hours of Tuesday the 22nd.
In the midst of consternation, almost two months after the tragic episode, the family of the minors still does not know about the progress in the investigations or about the detainees for justice to be done in the case. It’s the least this family asks for, even if it doesn’t bring back the lives of little Jandry and Braulio.
With his 10-month-old baby in his arms, a man was killed in Guasmo; The minor was injured and is hospitalized.
“What can I ask of the authorities! If there is no authority for poor people here… What can I ask for! If there is no justice here for really poor people, there is only justice if they are authorities or for rich people , who have money and influence. Here, they are two little angels who had nothing to do with it, innocent, what more can I ask for!” lamented the mother.
In the house, on Wednesday the 23rd, the single mother along with more relatives continued at the wake of the little one, whose body rested in a white coffin surrounded by bouquets of flowers.
There, she asked the authorities for action to stop the wave of violence, which also leaves collateral victims, such as the two minors Jandry and Braulio.
The woman asks the president to take action on the matter, since it is no longer just adults who are being killed, but children. “Not only was my child in the hospital: there is a 7-year-old girl, she has two bullet wounds in her lungs, she is fighting between life and death,” she said.
“President, please, innocent children are paying, they just want to live. The only thing I ask is that they do justice… Here it is already two months and the deaths of my grandson and son are in impunity, ”she commented.
On October 17 of last year, another infant died in the assault on an ice cream parlor in the Centenario neighborhood, in the south of Guayaquil. After that case, several violent acts have had other minors as victims.
So far this year, in Zone 8, made up of Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón, at least 195 violent deaths have been recorded. That figure represents more than triple the cases reported in the same period last year. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
