A new femicide is mourning a Cuban family today: Yadelaine Roque Torres, 25 years old, was killed on Friday night in the La Caoba area, near the town of El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, allegedly at the hands of her ex-partner.
The perpetrator of the crime, a man with a criminal record, was found dead hours later on a bridge in the city, reported independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada on Facebook.
According to several consistent testimonies, Yadelaine was attacked with a knife and rushed to receive medical attention, but she did not survive her injuries.
His body was taken to the morgue of Ambrosio Grillo Hospital in El Cobre, where his mother and other relatives stayed during the early hours of Saturday morning.
The young mother would have turned 26 years old on September 12, just a week after her death.
One of the most heart-wrenching elements of the case is that Yadelaine's daughter, a nearly five-year-old from a previous relationship, reportedly witnessed the assault on her mother, according to testimonies from close relatives. The girl's father lives outside of Cuba.
The alleged attacker was identified as Yorgelis Vidal Ayarde, 24 years old, a former inmate and ex-partner of the victim.
Hours after the crime, Yorgelis Vidal Ayarde was found dead on the Marimón bridge in the José Martí district of Santiago de Cuba. Initial reports suggest that he took his own life, although the exact circumstances will need to be determined by the authorities, who have not yet issued an official statement.
Yadelaine's father, who was said to have been a police officer, also noted that Yorgelis had allegedly stolen a significant amount of money in dollars from him before the crime, although Mayeta Labrada clarified that this information could not be independently verified.
"Two deaths. One night. A girl who is left without a mother," wrote Mayeta Labrada summarizing the tragedy.
The case falls within a sustained escalation of femicides in Cuba that independent organizations document in the absence of public official statistics.
So far this year, the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) has recorded 48 femicides as of August 28. The case of Yadelaine Roque Torres would be the 49th.
Santiago de Cuba has already recorded at least three cases in 2026: the case of Yuleidis Sánchez Rodríguez in Altamira, the case of Rosaidis Donatien in Palma Soriano, and the case of Merlin Noay, 17 years old, in Songo La Maya.
Cuba does not have a comprehensive law on gender-based violence, and femicide is not classified as an independent crime in its Penal Code, leaving victims and their families without the specific legal protection that such crimes require.
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