Two head kicks in Níjar to steal a mobile phone

Two young men kill a man with a head kick in Níjar

A mobile phone and a wallet. That was all they got. The Civil Guard arrested two young men — one a minor — for beating a man to death with head kicks in Campohermoso, a hamlet of Níjar (Almería), in the early hours of November 25-26. The autopsy confirmed craniocerebral trauma. The crime was captured on video, and that footage, along with local CCTV, allowed investigators to close the case in seven days.

A man sitting on the pavement and two kicks to rob him

According to the official account, the victim was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, apparently dizzy and looking at his phone. The attackers hid behind a corner and waited. At 00:19, the minor — 17 years and 11 months old — approached, stopped a meter away, and kicked him in the face. The man fell backward, hit the ground, and lost consciousness.

The video has sound. Then, the minor searched his clothes and fled with the mobile phone. The other young man, who was keeping watch at the corner, came over to search him again and as an afterthought delivered a second blow to the face before escaping. At 00:34, both returned, checked that he was still motionless, searched him again in case anything was left, and left without calling for emergency services. A driver found him shortly after and called the local police. For 40 minutes, paramedics tried to revive him. They failed.

Who the victim was and who the suspects are

The autopsy detected high levels of alcohol and cocaine consumption. The deceased, of Maghrebi origin, had entered Spain by patera on September 27 via Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and was known to security forces: in October he was arrested for robbery with violence in Carabanchel (Madrid), in November he was suspected of a sensual assault in Granada, and four days before his death he was involved in another violent robbery in Córdoba.

The detained minor is Spanish, with parents originally from Segarro. The family cooperated from the start: they explained that the boy had gone to Elche after being involved in a fight and antiestéticared retaliation. When officers clarified they were looking for him for homicide, the older brother committed to bringing him in himself, which he did. The minor confessed.

Seven days to close the case

The Homicides Unit of the Organized Crime Police Unit of the Civil Guard in Almería combed the area, reviewed footage, and managed to identify the minor’s face in one of the videos. In seven days, both attackers were arrested. They are charged with intentional homicide and robbery with violence. The judicial authority ordered the adult’s imprisonment and the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office ordered the minor’s placement in a detention center. The case was overseen by the Court of Instruction No. 6 and the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office of Almería.

The crime reopens comparison with 1980s crime

The incident has sparked a debate that goes beyond the case itself. One view holds that lethal violence without apparent motive has worsened and cannot be compared to past eras. Another argues the opposite: that 1980s crime, linked to heroin, was equally dangerous and that memory has sweetened it.

Some note that back then the offender was a known neighbor, someone from the neighborhood, and that fatal robberies were exceptional. Others argue that era had fewer weapons and self-defense rights were less restricted, which contained the escalation. Parallel to this is the migration axis: one side claims frontier policies allow people with records to remain on the streets; the other responds that this is common crime and generalizing by origin is unfair and useless.

Prison, detention, and recidivism

The judicial outcome for the two suspects concentrates much of the discussion: prison for the adult, a detention center for the minor. There is a belief that sentences for homicide and robbery may be too short and that recidivism is not corrected by years in jail. Those who support harsh penal measures clash with those who recall that the system already detained and released one of those involved before.

If the crime was recorded and solved in a week, why does violent death over a mobile phone keep happening?