Spanish
SANTO DOMINGO,. – The Public Ministry arrested four members of the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute this Saturday for their alleged responsibility in the involuntary manslaughter of Stephora Anne-Mircie Joseph, the 11-year-old girl who died by drowning on November 14 during a school excursion at the Los Caballos estate, located in Gurabo, Santiago.
The detainees are Yris del Carmen Reyes Adames, administrative director; Gisela González, general coordinator and advisor to the management team; Francisca Josefina Tavarez Vélez, counselor; and Vilma Altagracia Vargas Morel, secondary level coordinator.You may be interested in: Haiti asks DR to complete investigation into Stephora Joseph's death with rigor
The minor lost her life after falling into one of the pools of the recreational establishment, where she was taken along with a group of students from the school located on the Don Pedro Highway, in Santiago de los Caballeros. Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso instructed that the investigation be led by Deputy Attorney Wilson Camacho and court attorney Olga Diná Llaverías, responsible for the Prosecution Directorate and the National Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Family (Dinnaf). According to the investigation, the educational center mobilized 87 students with only three caregivers, without providing basic safety measures, without lifeguards, without verifying if the minors knew how to swim, and without requesting the mandatory use of life jackets, despite the depth of the pools at the location. Authorities also point out that videos of the excursion show extreme negligence on the part of the staff responsible for the care of the girl and those who organized the trip. The Public Ministry reported that it requested a joint inspection from the Ministry of Education to the Leonardo Da Vinci School to identify possible administrative or security practices that could put the best interests of the students at risk.
