A judge in Bogotá has sentenced José Francisco Suárez de Ávila to 43 years and four months in prison for the femicide of his partner, Sandra Patricia Gómez, in October 2023, according to Colombian authorities. The ruling, delivered by a criminal court, found Suárez de Ávila guilty of aggravated femicide and imposed an additional 20-year ban on holding public office. The prosecution, led by the Attorney General’s Office, presented video evidence and testimonies that officials said dismantled the defendant’s claim that the victim had died from an accidental fall.

The assault unfolded on the evening of 8–9 October 2023. Surveillance footage from the couple’s lodging house in the Llano Grande neighbourhood showed Suárez de Ávila forcing Gómez inside, grabbing her by the hair, throwing her to the ground, and kicking her repeatedly until she lost consciousness, medical and judicial sources reported. He then dragged her body into a room and left her without medical aid for several hours. Only the next morning did he transport her to a hospital, where she died from a massive cranial trauma with intracranial haemorrhaging.

Conflicting accounts emerge regarding the precise location of the crime. One media report, citing the court, places the initial attack in the southern district of Bosa, while another identifies the lodging house in the Kennedy district. Officials have not publicly reconciled the discrepancy, though both locations lie within the capital. The court also heard testimony from the victim’s daughter and a friend describing a pattern of physical, psychological, and economic abuse throughout the relationship.

The sentence was handed down at first instance and has become final after neither party lodged an appeal, judicial sources confirmed. The convict remains in custody and has been denied any form of house arrest or alternative sentencing. The case highlights persistent levels of gender-based violence in Bogotá, though no updated national figures were immediately available.