Silvia Guerrero: "I don't care if he was 17 or 40: my son has been murdered"

BarcelonaSilvia Guerrero learned on August 21 that her son Juan had been stabbed that morning in a fight in Tàrrega. He was 18 years old and had only been with the sole accused of his death, who was 17, for a few months. She still doesn't know when the trial for her son's death will be, and since then she has dedicated herself to demanding that the criminal consequences for minors be more severe and more similar to those assumed by adults. With the families of four victims, a month ago they presented 130,000 signatures to Congress to demand it. Juan's family has asked that the accused of killing him serve eight years of internment, the maximum provided for by law.

Almost nine months ago she learned that her son had died.

— It was a normal Thursday. I found out in the morning through social media. We knew instantly who it had been and that he was a minor, because they arrested him in the same place, at the moment. Juan did not enter that building alone, he was with friends and they all saw him. At the same moment, the friends told the Mossos d'Esquadra who it had been and where he was.

Did you know about it through social media?

— I saw a fight on Instagram and that there was a fatal victim. I immediately recognized the area, my son lived there. I called his best friend and he told me he was very sorry, that they had stabbed him. I was paralyzed, the phone fell from my hands... I screamed and punched the table. And then I raised my head and my young son, six years old, was in front of me. I have had five children and he is the youngest. He was pale and crying. And I realized that I am the adult. I picked him up in my arms, and ran towards Arnau [the Arnau de Vilanova hospital in Lleida].

And it was there?

— They told me he was being operated on and I had a feeling of hope. "My son is strong." And then, half an hour or three quarters of an hour after arriving, they let us into a room with my husband and my older son. And the doctor told us that he was very sorry, that Juan had died at 3:59 AM. I was outraged. No one had contacted us since the previous morning.

Did Juan have a relationship with the processing?

— They had no relationship, but they were not strangers either because they had been at the same institute. I don't know if it's luck or misfortune, but I don't know anyone in their family. I go to Tàrrega and I don't know who their father or mother is, because I don't know anyone. This also causes me a lot of insecurity because I never know where I might find them.

What happened that day?

— There was a fight between two families, they had been having a tug-of-war all afternoon. Juan was living at one of the families' house because he was helping them through a difficult time and at night he went down to see what was happening. Downstairs, the father of the alleged murderer tried to run them over. He had the car started and was maneuvering to prevent them from passing. The boys got scared and looked for a door to get out of the building. There was only one open door, which unfortunately was the one Juan opened, who was in front, with the bad luck that behind the door this guy was hiding with two knives. He went to hurt. Joan had three very serious wounds. Because now I do know them. I didn't know before, but now I've been able to read the summary and I know exactly the wounds my son had and the seriousness of this act. He had a perforated right ventricle, the heart with an entrance and exit, and the diaphragm. With these wounds, they can't tell me that the kid made a mistake and did it unintentionally.

Why were they fighting?

— The whole discussion had started for a very absurd reason. It all came from some WhatsApp messages. My son's friends' family claimed 100 euros that they owed to the assassin's family. From there, they started to disrespect each other. What makes me most angry is that the discussion had nothing to do with Juan.

At what stage is the judicial process?

— It's enough to make you put your hands on your head. On Sunday he was released on supervised parole. The juvenile law contemplates only nine months of preventive detention. Since the 21st of this month will be 9 months since my son's death, he has been released on supervised parole. We have requested a restraining order, and it is for two kilometers. Now it turns out that I cannot go to buy in Tàrrega [three kilometers from Vilagrassa, where he lives] because the parents of the killer live there and if I go, no one can assure me that he will not be there. Therefore, now I will only go to Tàrrega when I go to the doctor and as long as the Tàrrega City Council allows me to set up the signature table.

Between five families you have handed in 130,000 signatures to Congress. What are you asking for?

— We need the penalties to be more severe, for the crime committed to be taken into more consideration, and not the age of the aggressor. I consider that 8 years for a life is very sad. We request that the sentences for minors for serious crimes be a little more aligned with the law for adults. In the end, the crime is the same, I don't care if they were 17 or 40 years old. They have murdered my son. I know we won't achieve them going to the same prisons because they will say they cannot be mixed, but in the juvenile center, there are murderers mixed with children who have stolen, for example. On the other hand, in prisons, they do keep them separated by crimes.

What answer did you find?

— The same day the signatures were delivered [on April 16th] we met with the PP and they told us that in a month or a month and a half they would put on the table a request to change the minor's law. A week later we also had a video call with the PSOE, they said they were there to listen to us, but they didn't commit as much. In Catalonia, Aliança has been very attentive to this.