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Malany, a 17-year-old teenager, died early this morning in the Fundición neighborhood of Cárdenas, Matanzas, after being stabbed during a violent altercation with another 14-year-old girl, according to reporter Christian Arbolaez on Facebook.
The confrontation began hours earlier in the vicinity of José Antonio Echeverría Park and escalated until it moved to the home where Malany resided, at the corner of Obispo and Amistad, near the old Acopio.
Inside the house, both young women confronted each other again, and Malany struck the other girl with a pipe.
However, the dispute did not end there: shortly after, both went back out into the street and the confrontation continued in front of the house.
It was then that the alleged attacker, a 14-year-old teenager who, according to neighbors, was pregnant, wounded Malany with a knife.
The most serious injury was to the neck; injuries to the back were also reported.
What followed was a desperate race against time.
Malany's father, known in the neighborhood as "Jimagua," ran out with his daughter in his arms, looking for a way to take her to a medical center, Arbolaez reported.
In the midst of a blackout, with no communication service to call an ambulance and the usual transportation shortages during the early morning hours, the family and neighbors made every effort to find a vehicle.
A truck that was attempted to be used wouldn’t start; they eventually got another means of transport, but time was against them, according to the account of the communicator.
Malany died in her father's arms as he desperately sought a way to save her life.
The tragedy is set against the backdrop of the simultaneous collapse of emergency services in Cuba. On the same Sunday, a Cuban mother reported that she was denied an ambulance due to a lack of fuel, illustrating that Malany's case is not an isolated incident.
MINSAP acknowledged that Cuba only has 39.6% of the ambulances needed to respond to emergencies, and the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, stated in February 2026 before Parliament that the healthcare system was "on the brink of collapse."
Power outages directly worsened the response to the emergency. On Saturday, a journalist from Matanzas reported being without electricity for 67 consecutive hours, a province where more than 80% of the water supply system relies on electricity.
Youth violence in Matanzas is not new either. On December 26, 2025, another 17-year-old was stabbed to death in Colón, also in the province, after intervening in a street fight.
On the morning of this Sunday, agents from the Revolutionary National Police and forensic experts arrived at the scene to conduct investigations.
The alleged assailant was subsequently arrested at the hospital and remains in custody.
A friend of the victim, Elizabet Victores, expressed her sorrow in the comments of the post: "Rest in peace, Melani. A good friend, I'm very sorry and my condolences to her family."
The Cuban Citizen's Audit Observatory recorded 2,833 verified crimes in 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024, a figure that reflects the deterioration of public safety on the Island after decades of dictatorship.
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