The murder of 4-year-old Salomé Puentes Arias has shocked the nation due to the gruesome details surrounding the case. The girl was killed by Jair Sebastián Serna, her mother’s partner, who stabbed her in the neck after attacking and nearly rendering her mother, Andrea Estefanía Arias, unconscious.
The heinous crime occurred in the Las Colinas neighborhood of Armenia in the early morning of February 7. Authorities indicated that Serna fled after attacking the woman and the child. The man was captured on a public street near the Montevideo neighborhood after establishing security cordons in the area and receiving information from neighbors.
Details of the crime
Colonel Alba Patricia Lancheros, commander of the Quindío Police, released the details surrounding the girl’s murder. “A couple was found, she was 26 years old and he was 22 years old. They had been living together for four months,” she said.
At one point during the night, Serna woke up and attacked the girl’s mother. “He woke up, caressed his partner, told her he loved her, and apologized, when she felt he was hurting her with a knife and managed to run out to find her sister, who was staying at a nearby house,” Colonel Lancheros explained.
After the attack, officers arrived and found Salomé seriously injured. She was taken to a medical center where she was found lifeless. The girl died, and Andrea Estefanía Arias had to be taken to a medical center due to the severity of her injuries. The 26-year-old woman is in stable condition at San Juan de Dios Hospital in Armenia.
Charges filed
On February 8, the Fifth Criminal Court of Armenia held a hearing against Jair Sebastián Serna. The alleged murderer of the minor was charged with drug trafficking, manufacturing, and possession, which he pleaded guilty to.
Serna has an arrest warrant for homicide and attempted femicide. Andrea’s family called for the man to pay the “maximum sentence.” “
My daughter was a baby, how could he do that to her? My daughter never told us, nor did the girl say they had any problems with him. It was probably because he was on drugs or something,” said Mónica Andrea Valbuena, the woman’s mother, according to El Tiempo.
In her account of the events, Andrea Estefanía gave details of how the alleged killer’s attacks began. Serna reportedly arrived at the residence around 7 p.m., looking cheerful, and she began preparing his meal.
A horrifying story:
“The three of us slept in the bed: Sebastián, my daughter, and I, because she couldn’t sleep alone. I think he had taken cocaine because he came home strangely. He came home happier than usual, more talkative, and since I already knew him, I could tell he was confused,” she said.
Arias stated that he fell asleep with the minor around 10 p.m., and that the attacks began in the early hours of the morning.
“I felt him kiss me on the head, and since I had my back turned, I just felt him mount me and start hitting me. I felt a lot of punches on my head. When I tried to break away to grab my daughter, he grabbed me by the neck and choked me,” she said.
At that moment, the girl woke up and began screaming for help, prompting the suspect to begin hitting her. Without specifying whether she had been stabbed, Arias revealed that at one point, “he looked at her and punched me while he was hurting her.”
The woman had to fake her death to stop the attacks. Serna then allegedly went into the bathroom to shower, get ready, and then flee the scene.
