Public Prosecutor’s Office: The 11 police officers did not give the 5 victims the opportunity to speak.

Santiago, DR.— The Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested 18 months of pretrial detention and a declaration of complexity for eleven officers from the National Police’s Central Directorate of Criminal Investigation (Dicrim), accused of participating in the alleged planned execution of five men in a Santiago square on September 10, 2025.

In its request for a coercive measure, the Public Prosecutor’s Office states that the seriousness of the crime and the high rank of the accused require the maximum investigation time.

According to the factual account of the MP on September 10, 2025, Major Álvaro Paredes Paniagua, Captain José Ignacio Gómez Rodríguez, Second Lieutenant Domingo De Los Santos Vargas, Corporals Yohandy Encarnación and Geyser Francisco Álvarez Rodríguez; and Private Adrián Miguel Villalona Pineda assigned to the Department of Investigation of Organized Crime and Complex Cases of the National Police, went to Santiago to carry out an alleged operation of a case of arms trafficking that they were investigating.

While in Santiago, they met at the Cibao Central Police Directorate in Santiago with Major Hansel Michel Cuevas Carrasco, Sergeant Major Socrates Fidel Feliz Feliz, Sergeant Hairo Mateo Morillo, Corporal Cesar Augusto Martinez Trinidad, and Private Jose Octavio Jimenez Pena, all assigned to Dicrim in this district, and agreed to go to Olympic Avenue, Corona Plaza, La Barranquita sector.

The defendants departed in three vehicles: a Toyota Hilux pickup truck, a Kia, and a Toyota Yaris.

911 security cameras documented that on September 10, 2025, at approximately 2:21 p.m., the defendants positioned their vehicles near Olympic Avenue. 

Then, at 2:22 pm, the vehicle driven by Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro arrived, and at 2:23 pm, the vehicle of José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, who met with other victims aboard a Mazda.

The victims entered the plaza parking lot at approximately 2:26 p.m. Immediately, the defendants advanced and positioned themselves in front of the plaza entrance, got out of their vehicles, and shot Edward Bernardo Peña Rodríguez, Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro, Elvis Antonio Martínez Rodríguez, Julio Alberto Gómez, and José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, who died from multiple gunshot wounds. Corporal Yohandy Encarnación was injured in the events.

After committing the crime, the eleven defendants, identified by their full names, stole DVRs from the businesses on the premises, as well as several cell phones belonging to various people present. 

Additionally, witness Ramón Emilio Abreu Corona, owner of the Tecnopolis establishment, received multiple WhatsApp calls from National Police officers, who pressured him to reopen his business, which had been closed.

Upon arriving at the scene, Mr. Abreu Corona saw the bodies in the parking lot, and after opening his store at the police’s request, several officers entered, told him they had prevented a robbery, and took the business’s DVR.

After the events, prosecutor Cristina Ramírez appeared along with the Crime Scene Processing Unit ( Scientific Police ) of Santiago, headed by Corporal Luis Ramón Marte Duarte, to carry out the removal of the bodies and field work.

The team collected multiple pieces of evidence relevant to the investigation, including a .38 caliber Taurus revolver, a 9 mm caliber Browning pistol, a .45 caliber Glock pistol, a 5.56 caliber rifle, and a 9 mm caliber Mini Uzi, some of which were found inside the victims’ vehicles.

Casings measuring 9 mm, 5.56 mm, and .45 mm were also recovered at the scene, and gunpowder residue samples (atomic absorption) were taken from a vehicle. Later, on September 24, 2025, the MP collected another mutilated projectile in the side alley.

The Final Judicial Autopsy reports, issued by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) on September 25, 2025, confirmed that the cause of death of the five victims—Edward Bernardo Peña Rodríguez, José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro, Elvis Antonio Jiménez Rodríguez, and Julio Alberto Gómez—was gunshot wounds.

The forensic documents established the etiology as homicidal, indicating that the mechanism of death was hemorrhagic shock and that the cause was rapid. 

Additionally, it is reported that projectiles were recovered in the autopsies performed on Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro, Julio Alberto Gómez, and Edward Bernardo Peña Rodríguez.

The public ministry has framed the conduct of the accused in relation to the criminal types of association with criminals and Voluntary Homicide, as described in articles 265, 266, 295, and 304 of the Dominican Penal Code.