Nazario Mercedes sent to trial for the murder of several women

San José de Ocoa. – The Instruction Court of the Judicial District of Ocoa decided this Tuesday to send Nazario Mercedes to trial, accused of being a presumed "serial killer" linked to the death of several women, including Daylin Darmelin de los Santos Ramírez, who died in Rancho Arriba in 2022. The preliminary hearing began at 10:40 a.m. and ended around noon, when Judge Isael Martínez Guerrero decided to continue with the judicial process in the trial phase. After the decision, Mercedes was removed from the court under strict security measures, wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers, with his head covered.

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Relatives of Darmelin de los Santos Ramírez expressed satisfaction with the work of the Public Ministry, represented at the hearing by prosecutor Isidro Minyetty, and reiterated their confidence that justice will be served. Mercedes, transferred from Najayo prison to San José de Ocoa, faces charges for murders that occurred in Quisqueya, Hato Viejo, Villa Altagracia, and Rancho Arriba de Ocoa. The cases date back to 1995, with the first femicide recorded in San Pedro de Macorís, and extend to 2023, including victims in Santo Domingo Este and Villa Altagracia. Among the women linked to Mercedes are: Yanet (1995), Diana Carolina Lorenzo Medina (2008), Rosa María Peralta (2014, survivor), Daylin Darmelin de los Santos Ramírez (2022), a Haitian woman in San Luis (2023) and Yessica Figueroa in Villa Altagracia.