In the Dominican Republic’s second-largest city of Santiago, a brutal coordinated fatal attack has left one man dead and seven motorcycle taxi drivers facing serious murder charges, with state prosecutors now pushing to hold the accused behind bars ahead of their trial. The victim, identified as Deivy Carlos Abreu Quezada, worked as a garbage truck driver when he was ambushed by the group following a multi-kilometer chase that ended in the immediate grounds of the city’s Palace of Justice.
Prosecutors have formally named the seven defendants as Adony Antonio Ureña Ventura, Andrés Monclú González, Carlos Andrés Roa Morán, Miguel García Balbuena, Joanfry Joel Núñez, Juan Carlos Soto Ortiz, and Kevin Francisco Metz Cruz. Court documents allege the men acted in concert to pursue, block, and carry out the deadly assault on Abreu Quezada. After the attack, the injured driver was rushed to Santiago’s Presidente Estrella Ureña Hospital, where medical teams were unable to save his life.
Top law enforcement officials have moved swiftly to formalize charges in the high-profile case. Dominican Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso directly ordered local prosecutors to file preliminary murder charges against all seven suspects. Quirsa Abreu Peña, chief prosecutor for the Santiago region, has characterized the killing as a pre-planned, coordinated attack rather than a spontaneous outbreak of violence stemming from a road dispute.
Early investigative findings outline how the deadly confrontation unfolded. The conflict erupted from a minor traffic accident between Abreu Quezada’s garbage truck and the motorcyclists, investigators confirmed. What began as a small roadway dispute quickly escalated, with the group of mototaxi drivers launching a pursuit that stretched for several kilometers as they repeatedly tried to force the garbage truck to stop. Desperate to escape the pursuing group, Abreu Quezada drove to the Palace of Justice seeking safety — but the mob followed him to the courthouse steps, where they carried out the fatal stabbing attack, according to official allegations.