00:00What happened during the time Donovan Balanta Paz was in police custody before
00:04Did he die? The prosecution made a detailed reconstruction of the day Donovan Balanta
00:08He died in police custody. The facts, the role of the officers, the timing of the
00:13The procedure and the forensic medical report led the prosecuting body to request the arrest
00:17of five uniformed officers, who will have to answer for the crimes of aggravated homicide
00:21and torture, and that in the indictment they declared themselves innocent.
00:24The fifth suspect is still at large. According to the prosecution's reconstruction of events, the facts
00:28The events that ended in Balanta's death began at 2:15 pm in the Caracolí neighborhood, south
00:33from Bogotá, after attending to a case of a citizen's fight, in which some police officers made statements
00:38of a racial nature, like, and I quote, "I'm used to killing black guerrillas in Chocó," I conclude.
00:43Quotation marks. The uniformed officers captured Donovan in a public place.
00:46The investigation indicates that the young man was handcuffed, subdued, and subjected to several electric shocks.
00:50They were then taken to the police station.
00:55Azucá, where the attacks and electric shocks apparently continued. Despite
00:59He reported feeling severe chest pain, so he was taken to the hospital.
01:02He collapsed unconscious at the Soacha Cardiovascular Hospital. He was admitted there at 3:55 pm and died 4 hours later.
01:08Afterwards. Following his death, the autopsy report
01:10The forensic medical report was revealing. In addition to the injuries from the blows, it documented six
01:14pinpoint skin lesions with a pattern compatible with Taser device, located in
01:19the chest, abdomen, back, and lower extremities. The report listed the presumed cause of
01:24Death from a cardiac arrhythmia associated with an electrical conduction device and the
01:29She described it as violent. However, she warns of the need to compare and correlate the
01:33study in a comprehensive manner with the temporal sequence, the electrocardiographic recordings
01:38and the development of the judicial investigation. Based on the videos, testimonies, and
01:42documents, the Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against several uniformed officers and ordered, for the time being,
01:46The capture of five of them. They include patrolman Jonathan Giraldo Torres, 27,
01:51who is being investigated as the main perpetrator of the crime of aggravated homicide and torture for having
01:55The Taser device was activated against Valanta. Patrolman Santiago Vargas was also involved.
01:59Romero and Naumer Vergés Lozano, along with Deputy Mayor Enar Tapiero Tique, who will be prosecuted for their
02:05mission in the homicide and as perpetrators of torture for having beaten the victim in the procedure.
02:09And finally, Major Roque Correa Yañez, station commander, for omission in not having
02:15Valanta was immediately taken to the hospital when he reported feeling severe pain.
02:19Precordial pain and difficulty breathing. An additional 12 people have been reported, including a patrol officer.
02:24and a mayor, for assaults inside the station and the omission when transferring
02:28The detainee was taken to the hospital. For now, the demand for justice from neighbors, family, and friends of
02:33Donovan Valanta is being handled by the Prosecutor's Office with these arrests and the formal charges.
02:37It will be the judges' task to analyze all the evidence to determine if those under investigation are guilty.
02:42or innocent. However, this case reopens an old debate.
02:45The lethality of Teisel devices. What considerations should the justice system analyze?
02:50about its use?
