Lohara Tavárez case returns to court; Elena Marizán will try to obtain freedom for the third time

San Francisco de Macorís. – The case of the murder of the young architecture student Lohara Tavárez Rosario will return to the courts this Wednesday, when Elena Marizán seeks to obtain her freedom for the third time after serving 16 years of the 20-year sentence imposed on her. The hearing will be held at the Palace of Justice in San Francisco de Macorís, where family and friends of the victim reiterated their rejection of any attempt to reduce the sentence or early release for the convicted. Lohara's relatives assured that they will remain firm in their fight to uphold the sentence issued against Marizán, considering that the crime deeply shocked Dominican society. With this request, this makes three times that Marizán has tried to change his legal situation, after making similar requests in the years 2022 and 2024.

A crime that shook the country

The murder of Lohara Tavárez occurred on November 6, 2009. The body of the 19-year-old was found wrapped in a tarp with traces of cement and paint in an area of the Las Cejas highway.

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According to investigations, the student's face was disfigured by blunt force trauma, wounds caused by scissors, and signs of asphyxiation, as she was found hanged with a shoelace and a piece of cloth. Following the discovery, the National Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office questioned dozens of people close to the victim, including friends and classmates of studies. The investigations led the authorities to several people involved, including Jerónimo Santana Villanueva, whose phone numbers appeared registered in the young woman's cell phone. Subsequently, María Magdalena Marizán Flores was arrested, identified by the authorities as the person who allegedly ordered the crime.

During the judicial process, a 17-year-old minor confessed to having murdered Lohara Tavárez and declared that Marizán Flores had offered him two million pesos to commit the crime.

For the case, Víctor Alfonso Brito Vásquez, alias "El Guachi", was also convicted, found guilty along with Marizán Flores of torturing and murdering the young woman. “El Guachi” died in October 2012 while receiving medical attention, after being injured during an alleged escape attempt from the Vista al Valle Correction and Rehabilitation Center. Meanwhile, Jerónimo Santana Villanueva was discharged by the court.