A high-profile double death case in the Dominican Republic’s capital has taken a critical turn, after official toxicology results from the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) have upended initial assumptions about what killed the two victims. The case centers on Raysa Juliza Serrano Guzmán and her minor son Jadin Nael Cornelio, whose bodies were discovered inside a residential apartment in the Arpel 07 tower of Santo Domingo’s upscale Piantini neighborhood, in the National District. After conducting specialized testing via the Conway microdiffusion method, INACIF’s Forensic Toxicology Department confirmed that carbon monoxide was present in blood samples taken from both Guzmán and Cornelio, according to two official reports released by the institute. This toxicological finding marks a breakthrough piece of evidence for the ongoing probe being carried out by the Dominican National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has been working to pin down the exact circumstances that led to the pair’s deaths. While the official reports definitively verify carbon monoxide exposure in the victims’ systems, investigating authorities have not yet resolved a key outstanding question: where the toxic gas originated from. The incident left a third person injured: 22-year-old Carolín Milagros Pérez, who was Jadin Nael Cornelio’s romantic partner. Pérez was rushed to a private local medical facility in serious condition immediately after the incident was discovered, but she made an unexpectedly strong recovery and was eventually discharged from care. Prior to the release of INACIF’s toxicology findings, investigators’ leading working hypothesis was that the deaths were caused by food poisoning. That theory has now been formally ruled out, redirecting the entire investigation to the new line of inquiry centered on carbon monoxide exposure.
INACIF Report: The discovery of carbon monoxide gives a new direction to the investigation into the deaths of mother and son in Piantini.
