Nicaragua's Public Ministry is seeking a 26-year prison sentence for Angélica María Mairena López, 31, after she confessed before a judge to causing the death of her four-year-old daughter by submerging the child's head in a bucket of water. The incident took place in the Denis Larios community, in the municipality of Ticuantepe, Managua department.
- Confession: Mairena López admitted the facts before Judge María de Lourdes Corea Tijerino, who declared her guilty of parricide.
- Sentencing request: The Public Ministry is asking for 26 years due to aggravating circumstances; the defense is seeking the minimum 20-year term.
- Mental evaluation: The Institute of Legal Medicine concluded that the accused showed no psychiatric alterations.
The facts according to the accusation
According to the Public Ministry's accusation, the case occurred on the afternoon of August 18, when the girl, identified by the initials M.A.C.M., was playing in the patio of the family home.
The prosecution maintains that the woman first sought to distract her seven-year-old son. To that end, she took him to a living room, turned on a Nintendo video game and raised the television volume. She then went to a bedroom and increased the music volume.
According to the prosecution's account, Mairena López also prepared a bucket of water before calling her daughter. The girl entered the room after her mother invited her to play with a toy that was inside the container. Once there, the accused held the minor and submerged her head in the water until causing her death.
The girl was in the first level of Early Childhood Education at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Socorro. Available information does not specify who found the minor or the exact circumstances in which the incident was discovered.
Neighbors' accounts and official expert report
After the crime, neighbors told local media on condition of anonymity that Mairena López was going through a severe depressive state and that the father of her children had decided to abandon them. A version also circulated that the woman may have acted out of fear that her daughter would suffer a separation similar to the one she had experienced.
However, an evaluation by the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML), presented during the initial hearing, concluded that the accused was in good mental health and showed no psychiatric alterations. For that reason, Judge Karen Chavarría, head of the Ninth District Criminal Hearing Court, sent the case to trial.
Admission of facts and sentencing debate
After several postponements, on October 22 Mairena López participated in a hearing by videoconference and admitted the facts presented by the prosecution. Judge María de Lourdes Corea Tijerino, head of the Ninth District Criminal Trial Court of Managua, declared her guilty of parricide.
During the sentencing debate, the Public Ministry requested 26 years in prison, considering that the victim was four years old and that aggravating circumstances under criminal law applied. The defense sought the minimum 20-year term, arguing that the accused voluntarily acknowledged the facts.
The judge concluded the hearing and indicated that the sentence would be notified later.
The girl was buried accompanied by family members and neighbors, according to images broadcast after the crime.
The case remains pending until the Ninth District Criminal Trial Court of Managua announces the final sentence. The gap between the 26 years sought by the prosecution and the 20 years proposed by the defense must be resolved in the ruling, which could set a precedent for how aggravating factors are applied in parricide cases in Nicaragua.