Spanish police arrested fourth young man for homophobic murder of Samuel

Spanish police arrested a fourth person on Thursday for the death of Samuel Luiz, a young man of 24 who was beaten to death in the city of La Coruña (Galicia, north-west), an event that shocked the public. population and whose investigation is about to clarify whether it was homophobic.

The new arrested is between 20 and 25 years old, like the three other detainees so far (two boys and a girl) and none of them knew the deceased, according to sources close to the investigation today.

All are charged with the felony of homicide, although in the latter’s case he is also under investigation for another of embezzlement, allegedly keeping the victim’s cell phone.

This new arrest is the result of information obtained by the Police from testimonies that have been collected since yesterday. None of the four arrested to date has a criminal record.

Samuel’s death last Saturday sparked protests in Spain over the possibility that it was a homophobic murder, since those accompanying him at the time declared that the assault was due to his homosexual condition.

Samuel was assaulted by several people while making a video call, which sparked the scuffle as a group of young people believed he was recording them.

When he was taken care of by the emergency services, he presented several bruises and severe blows to the head which required the intervention of health workers for two hours in an attempt to resuscitate him, although he or eventually died in the hospital where he was taken.

According to the authorities, all avenues of investigation remain open and new arrests cannot be ruled out.

The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has confirmed in recent days the arrest of these three young people, but did not want to specify whether the investigators were working with a precise hypothesis on the motive of the attack and s ‘is limited to asking the media to let the police “work in peace”, who are doing “relevant” work.

All the “incriminating” elements are being analyzed, as well as others which can determine what happened.the minister said before insisting on the need to let the police continue to work on the case “in abundance” as they do.

The operation is still open and new arrests cannot be ruled out, declared Grande Marlaska, who recalled that the Police, in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Court, are analyzing all the circumstances that may have contributed to this assassination.

Sources close to the investigation specified Efe that a statement had been taken from about fifteen people linked to the fight, although the poor quality of the images recorded by the cameras near the scene of the events made identification difficult.

After the crime, thousands of people rallied in different cities across the country to demand justice for Samuel’s death.

(With information from EFE)

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