By Natalia Rueda 
On Sunday, May 14, 2023, in celebration of Mother’s Day in Colombia, a shocking femicide shocked the country when Christian Camilo Rincón Díaz, an employee of a security company, shot and killed his 26-year-old partner, Erika Lugo. , in the Unicentro Norte shopping center in the Usaquén neighborhood.
The incident occurred around 5:15 PM when Rincón Díaz entered the pizzeria where Erika worked as deputy administrator and began to argue with her. Witnesses reported that he pulled out a gun and shot her twice at head height, killing her instantly. Rincón Díaz then attempted to take his own life with the same weapon, but was only able to inflict a head wound that required him to be transferred to the Santa Fe Foundation where he was later declared dead.
The National Police have since confirmed that this was not the first time Rincón Díaz had attempted to confront Erika at the shopping center, leading them to believe that he may have taken out a life insurance policy in her name.
This tragedy has sparked outrage in Colombia, where femicide is all too common. Activists are calling for more stringent policies to protect women from domestic violence and for greater penalties for perpetrators of femicide. This incident also serves as a tragic reminder that more needs to be done to prevent these senseless acts of violence.
According to the Colombian Femicide Observatory, in 2022 a total of 614 women were murdered. As of March 3, 2023, 139 cases have been reported nationwide. The Institute of Legal Medicine’s report on non-fatal violence cases in the first quarter of 2023 totaled 18,294 reports. Interpersonal and intrafamily violence has been particularly alarming, with 517 more episodes reported in the first quarter of 2023 than the same period of 2022.