The lawyer of one of the defendants in the murder of Gabriela Nicole Pratts Rosario argued that his client “was working” and had “minimal participation” on the night of the events.

After a judge denied his request for alleged exculpatory evidence, attorney Jesús Ramos said outside the courtroom that he is seeking evidence to distance his client, Elvia Cabrera Rivera, from the crime.

Ramos was trying to obtain test results of genetic material (DNA), videos and any other images that the Public Prosecutor’s Office had, while prosecutors claim that there is no exculpatory evidence.

“(On) the result of the DNA tests, we understand that it promotes the innocence of our client,” Ramos said.

“Remember that this is a murder case and it requires motive and premeditation, and if there is (an) event on a detour (road), where there is a crowd of people, and if there is a video, you could see the participation of my client, especially when what she was doing was working," he added.

Although he acknowledged that he does not know the results of the genetic material samples taken from Cabrera Rivera, the attorney said that “that is why the motion was filed, but we understand the innocence of our client.

He maintained that his request was “in relation to the scientific evidence which we understand to be negative.”

When pressed on the question of whether he intended to prove that his client was not at the scene, Ramos said that “that will be seen in the witnesses, but my client was working”.

“It’s minimal participation,” Ramos said, referring to Cabrera Rivera. “Minimal, minutes,” he noted before leaving without offering additional details as to what kind of “participation” he was referring to.

Cabrera Rivera and her daughter, Anthoneiska Aviles Cabrera, 17, face first-degree murder charges as the only people charged with the crime so far, although Justice Secretary Lourdes Gomez Torres revealed to El Nuevo Día yesterday that charges will be filed against other people “soon”.

The tragedy was reported on August 11, after two 16-year-old minors arrived at the Mennonite hospital in Aibonito with stab wounds.

The crime occurred at the “Roberto Colón” turnoff, intersection with PR-14, near the town center and minutes from the Aibonito police station, according to police, and just steps from the business where Cabrera Rivera worked.

The call alerted two young men, a female and a male, who arrived at the facility. Shortly thereafter, Pratts Rosario died.

According to the investigation, the two minors were at a summer closing activity sponsored by the municipality and, at the end of the activity, they walked to the aforementioned place where there was a group of people.

Afterwards, an argument broke out between the sister of the deceased and a person at the scene. During the altercation, Pratts Rosario’s sister, also a minor, was assaulted, so the victim interceded. It was at that moment when she received eight stab wounds in different parts of her body.

In addition to first-degree murder, the two defendants also face charges for violation of the Weapons Act. Bail was set for each of them at $1 million, which they did not post, and they were committed to a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 18.