Woman and her 2-year-old son murdered by partner in Algemesí: 'I have to leave him because he's going to kill me'

A mother and her two-year-old son were killed in a suspected case of gender-based violence in the Spanish town of Algemesí, near Valencia, early on Wednesday, 25 June. Investigators believe that the 34-year-old man, a Colombian national, stabbed his partner Alejandra more than ten times, before strangling their son Samuel with the cable of a phone charger. He confessed as soon as the police arrived at the scene.

Alejandra Villegas was a 43-year-old mother from Venezuela. She moved to Spain in December 2021, when she was two months pregnant, in search of a better future for her son. Her brother and sister-in-law took her into their home. The father of the baby - Leonardo David A. R. - joined them a year later and the couple stayed with Alejandra's brother for another month.

Although Leonardo had demonstrated his sexist, possessive and violent behaviour while they were in Colombia, Alejandra believed that he had changed. Once in Spain though, he continued to be abusive, but Alejandra never thought he would touch their son.

Alejandra was not in the Viogen system, which protects the victims of domestic violence and takes action depending on the assessed risk. She lived in fear, but she didn't want to report Leonardo, because he was the father of her child and "she didn't want to damage his life", according to her sister-in-law. She was also afraid that such a report would negatively impact her immigration status.

Alejandra's closest circle knew that Leonardo was mistreating her, but she would always minimise his actions, because she knew her family and friends wanted her to report him. However, she drew the line shortly before the double murder. The day before the attack, she told her friends that she was leaving Leonardo and that she would give him a month to move out.

The week before, on Friday, Alejandra shared her intentions with her brother and sister-in-law as well. "I have to leave him, because he's going to kill me," she told them. As terrifying as her words sounded, they thought it was just a way of phrasing the limit that the "toxic relationship" had reached. Looking back, Alejandra's brother believes that she knew what kind of a man she was living with.

The last aggressive episode Alejandra shared was only 20 days before she died. It took place in a bar in Algemesí. Reportedly, Leonardo slapped her in front of several people and pulled out a knife when they reproached him. Alejandra tried to cover it up, but her family still found out. "According to what she told us, they attacked him with chairs and he was the one who refused to report it, but there was something strange," Alejandra's family said. That same night she slept at a cousin's house, the risk for her life already hanging above her.

Leonardo could not let his partner and son leave him. His sexist and possessive behaviour was becoming more noticeable. On the night of the incident, after being told that he had a month to move out that same day, he initiated a fight with Alejandra, in the bedroom where their son was also sleeping. He attacked her with a knife, stabbing her ten times, first in the throat and the clavicle. After killing her, he strangled Samuel with a cable cord, judging by the marks on the boy's neck.

At the time, in the house was also Alejandra's 67-year-old mother with an early onset Alzheimer's disease. She slept with her mobile phone under the pillow, as her daughter had asked her to do in case something happened. In the early hours of the morning, the elderly woman heard a brief argument and went downstairs to seek help on the street. Previously, when hearing an argument between the couple, she would take Samuel with her, but she couldn't do it this time.

With the help of a neighbour, she eventually managed to call the emergency service. Due to her confusion, it is not clear how much time it took her to find someone and alert the police. According to what she told the National Police officers, she went back upstairs and found the door locked, which caused her to worry and suspect that it wasn't just the usual argument. She got scared and didn't even realise that she had keys. However, her absence from the flat was what saved her life.

Despite her account not being sufficiently convincing, given her mental health - she initially said that she had tried to take Samuel with her, but Leonardo had not let her, which is not certain - the investigators are sure that the case concerns a double murder.

According to the investigation, after allegedly killing his partner and son, Leonardo took a shower and changed his clothes, before the police arrived at the house located on Calle Parque Salvador Castell. "I have committed a monstrosity," he confessed to the officers just before they arrested him. He is currently provisionally held in prison.

Alejandra leaves behind one more child from a previous relationship. The 21-year-old daughter has travelled from Colombia to attend her mother and brother's funeral.