La Matanza: a 24-year-old female app driver was murdered

Insecurity in the Greater Buenos Aires area shows no respite, and the district of La Matanza has become the emblem of state abandonment under the leadership of kirchnerismo. In the early hours of Saturday, Candela Santa María, 24 years old, was murdered in cold blood while working as a rideshare driver in González Catán, one of the areas most affected by crime.

The victim was found dead inside her Fiat Cronos vehicle, which she had recently purchased and was still paying in installments. The attack occurred between 1 and 2 a.m., at the intersection of Coronel Ramos and La Bastilla. According to the family's initial account, a fake passenger allegedly ambushed her to steal her cell phone and cash.

"They set her up," her cousin Fernando told the media. The man stated that Candela was on her way to pick up a supposed passenger when she was intercepted:  "We have identified him and gave the information to the police. My cousin was very well known. She bought a brand new Fiat Cronos, to be paid in installments. She did odd jobs to pay for it. They requested the car through this app because they knew her and set her up."

Fernando added bluntly: "He stole her cell phone, not the car, and killed her. He surely stole money from her. He's a junkie. They're all junkies. It seems they were high on drugs and killed her. On September 9, she would have turned 25 years old."

From the early hours of the morning, neighbors and acquaintances of the victim blocked Route 3, at the height of Laferrere, to demand justice and call for concrete measures in response to the wave of murders plaguing the district. The public outrage reflects the exhaustion of a community that feels abandoned while Espinoza's administration looks the other way.

As the hours passed, the hypothesis of a simple robbery lost strength. According to police sources, Candela had already turned off the app before being attacked and was heading to park her vehicle. The investigation then focused on the relationship between the victim and the main suspect, identified as R.A.L., 20 years old (44 pounds), and a neighbor of the young woman.

The police operation moved to a house in Virrey del Pino, where relatives of the suspect lived. When surrounded, R.A.L. tried to escape through the back and, cornered, shot himself in the head in front of a witness, taking his own life. This was confirmed by the latest report released by the Buenos Aires Province Police.

The case is being handled by prosecutor Diego Rulli, from the La Matanza Homicide Prosecutor's Office, who ordered forensic examinations by the Argentine Federal Police and continues to take statements to reconstruct the relationship between Candela and the deceased young man.

Candela Santa María was a hardworking and well-liked young woman in the western area. On her social media, she shared her passion for motorcycles and Boca Juniors. In order to finish paying for her car, she had decided to work as a rideshare driver, an effort that ended in tragedy.