Man gets 19 years in prison for assaulting partner at Bayamón shopping mall

The Justice Department emphasized that the sentence imposed reflects the authorities’ commitment to combating gender-based violence and protecting victims.

By THE STAR STAFF

Judge Carmen Otero of the Bayamón Court sentenced Ricardo Antonio Pérez Vázquez to 19 years and three days in prison on Tuesday for assaulting his partner during an incident on Aug. 28 at Plaza Río Hondo shopping mall in Bayamón, Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres announced.

According to the Department of Justice, Bayamón District Attorney Gabriel Redondo and Prosecutor Daniela Mejías Burgos filed five charges against Pérez Vázquez for crimes including domestic violence, attempted femicide, elder abuse, and possession and use of a bladed weapon. Agent Iván Abraham Soberal of the Bayamón Police Homicide Division was in charge of the investigation.

According to the investigation, in the early morning hours of Aug. 28 of this year, Pérez Vázquez demanded that his partner, Yarilian Yaliz Rosa González, give him her cell phone, which led to an argument. During the altercation, he insulted her and assaulted her, striking her in the face with an open hand and punching her in the left shoulder. The incident occurred at the defendant’s residence in San Juan.

Hours later, Pérez Vázquez went to Rosa González’s workplace at Plaza Río Hondo. After being denied entry through the back of the store, he entered the shopping center, waited for the victim, and stabbed her in the left side. After wounding Rosa González, he chased the store manager, Ana María Cabello Domínguez.

The Justice Department emphasized that the sentence imposed reflects the authorities’ commitment to combating gender-based violence and protecting victims.