Argentina: courts to rule on case of five-year-old Lucio Dupuy, allegedly beaten to death by his mother and her girlfriend

On Thursday, Feb. 2, Argentina will announce the verdict in one of its most shocking cases of recent years. The crime was committed against Lucio Dupuy, a five-year-old boy who was beaten to death in the province of La Pampa.

The main suspects of the murder are the victim's mother, Magdalena Espósito Valenti, and her girlfriend, Abigail Páez, with whom the boy lived. The autopsy performed showed that the child suffered multiple traumas and presented evidence of previous injuries.

Paez, the partner of the murdered boy's mother, used to post on social media about her dislike for Lucio. She also referred to the conflict between her girlfriend and Christian Dupuy, the victim's father, who claimed custody of the child on several occasions but was never heard by the courts.

In addition to other explicit posts on social media lamenting about having to care for the boy, Páez and Espósito Valenti's neighbors claimed to have seen evidence of constant abuse of the boy by both women. At least six witnesses testified in the case and said that they often saw the child injured. Witnesses also say that the defendants played music at very high volumes so that the screams could not be heard while they were beating him.

After a total of 18 hearings, the judges' verdict will be announced on Feb. 2. One of the prosecutors in the case argued potential factors in the case could have been "sexual abuse" and "hatred on the basis of gender." If found guilty, Paez and Espósito Valenti would face life in prison.