A new femicide casts a shadow over a Cuban family today: Yadelaine Roque Torres, 25 years old, was murdered on Friday night in the La Caoba area, near the town of El Cobre, in Santiago de Cuba, allegedly at the hands of her ex-partner.
The author of the crime, a man with a criminal record, was found dead hours later on a bridge in the city, reported on Facebook by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
According to several testimonies, Yadelaine was attacked with a knife and was urgently transported for medical attention, but did not survive her injuries.
His body was taken to the morgue of Ambrosio Grillo Hospital in El Cobre, where his mother and other family members remained during the early hours of Saturday morning.
The young mother would turn 26 years old on September 12, just a week after her death.
One of the most heartbreaking aspects of the case is that Yadelaine's daughter, a nearly five-year-old from a previous relationship, is said to have witnessed the attack on her mother, according to testimonies from close family members. The child's father lives outside of Cuba.
The alleged attacker was identified as Yorgelis Vidal Ayarde, 24 years old, an inmate and former partner of the victim.
Hours after the crime, 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 indicated that Vidal Ayarde allegedly stole 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 left without a mother," wrote Mayeta Labrada in summarizing the tragedy.
The case falls within a sustained escalation of femicides in Cuba that independent organizations are documenting in the absence of publicly available official statistics.
So far this year, the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas (OGAT) has recorded 48 femicides as of August 28. Yadelaine Roque Torres would be the 49th.
Santiago de Cuba had already recorded at least three cases in 2026: that of Yuleidis Sánchez Rodríguez, in Altamira; the case of Rosaidis Donatien, in Palma Soriano, and that 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 a standalone crime in its Penal Code, leaving victims and their families without the specific legal protection that such crimes require.
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