Ecuador's 14-year-old 'hitman child' gunned down with over 50 shots

Ecuador: 14-year-old 'hitman child' killed with more than 50 gunshots

Death did not take long to arrive. The Ecuadorian teenager known as the 'hitman child', detained at age 13 with an arsenal in his possession, has been murdered in Jaramijó (Manabí) after a burst of more than 50 shots. The attack, which took place just weeks after he had been released under socio-educational measures, also left another victim dead and a guard wounded. According to the police report circulated on social media, the security forces were looking for him when "another organization found him first and killed him."

A 13-year-old with an arsenal: the February arrest

The boy's record is no secret. On February 28 he was detained in Manta, inside a taxi. Police found two fragmentation grenades, a firearm and drugs. He was 13 at the time. Despite the seriousness of the events, the judge imposed socio-educational measures and the boy was released from custody again. Weeks later, the 'hitman child' was history.

Instant justice vs. system failure

The episode reopens an uncomfortable social debate. For part of public opinion, the outcome reads as 'instant justice' – the comment that 'one less incivil' circulates shamelessly on social media. For others, it is proof of the collapse of a juvenile justice system that returns minors to the street so other incivil can finish the sentence. There are also those who see in these cases a warning that the phenomenon has crossed borders: the question of how many minors like this are already operating in Spain hangs in the air.

Neither reading closes the circle. The police were looking for the boy, but it was another organization that found him; the juvenile justice system returned him to the street and the market of death collected its bill. The Ecuadorian state is once again trapped between a lack of resources and the brutality of the cartels, while the 'hitman child' becomes one more case in a war that spares no age.