Colombia's Attorney General's Office has brought mother Karol Viviana Méndez Trujillo and stepfather Wilson Ariel Guerrero Cerón to trial for aggravated homicide, aggravated torture, and family violence leading to the death of two-year-old Jordán Alexander Cerón Méndez in Neiva. Prosecutor Mario Afanador stated that the couple 'turned this defenseless child's life into hell' through systematic abuse. The boy died on March 13, 2025, from peritonitis caused by severe beatings.
The trial began before Neiva's First Specialized Criminal Judge. The prosecution's case states the child endured physical and psychological abuse almost from birth, resulting in multiple injuries to his face, thorax, and abdomen that caused visceral rupture and generalized infection, per the necropsy.
On March 13, 2025, around 5:15 a.m., neighbor Angie Daniela Aragón heard the mother's desperate screams and helped rush the boy to the Centro de Atención Materno Infantil (CAIMI), where he arrived without vital signs, rigid, and with livor mortis.
The mother stated that the previous day she found the child drowsy, gave him broth and medications like Metronidazole without seeking medical help despite persistent vomiting and abdominal pain. The older brother told investigators the stepfather frequently beat the boy in their room, and the mother knew but did not intervene.
A nearby drugstore owner saw bruises on the child's cheekbone, abdominal swelling, and back trauma on March 12, advising medical care that was ignored. Prior witnesses reported blows to the eye, lip, and mouth days before death, indicating systematic abuse.
