Killing of Samuel Luiz: Difference between revisions

'''Samuel Luiz Muñiz''', a 24-year-old nursing assistant, was beaten to death in [[A Coruña]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], Spain on 3 July 2021. According to several witnesses, including victim friends, the crime was motivated by homophobia.<ref name=huffington/><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2021-07-05|title=Lina, la amiga que fue testigo de cómo mataban a Samuel: "Fue un crimen homófobo"|url=https://www.telecinco.es/elprogramadeanarosa/sucesos/lina-amiga-samuel-testigo-muerte-crimen-homofobo_18_3165496012.html|access-date=2021-07-10|website=telecinco|language=es-ES}}</ref> Following the initial investigations, the police disagrees and states there was no homophobic motive in the crime, as suspects did not know the victim prior the attack, nor had they knew at the moment of attack the victim's sexual orientation.<ref name="huffington" /><ref name=":4" /> As of July 8, four people have been arrested over his death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=8 July 2021|title=Cuatro detenidos en España por la muerte a golpes de un joven homosexual|work=El Comercio|url=https://elcomercio.pe/mundo/espana/samuel-luiz-muniz-cuatro-detenidos-en-espana-por-la-muerte-a-golpes-de-joven-homosexual-noticia/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=8 July 2021|title=Detienen a una cuarta persona por el crimen de Samuel Luiz en A Coruña|work=La Voz de Galicia|url=https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/galicia/2021/07/08/detienen-cuarta-persona-muerte-samuel-luiz/00031625731881464428875.htm}}</ref>

Thirteen people were interviewed over the fatal beating.<ref>{{cite news |title=La policía detiene a 13 personas por la muerte violenta del joven de 24 años en A Coruña|trans-title=Police detain 13 people for the violent death of a 24-year-old young man in A Coruña|url=https://www.ondacero.es/noticias/sociedad/policia-detiene-13-personas-muerte-violenta-joven-24-anos-coruna_2021070560e2a5f6dddcb20001b97715.html |access-date=6 July 2021 |publisher=Onda Cero |date=5 July 2021 |language=Spanish}}</ref> On 6 July, the police said that while they could not disregard any hypothetical motive, the initial evidence did not point to homophobia.<ref name="huffington">{{cite news |title=La Policía no descarta ninguna hipótesis sobre Samuel, pero los primeros indicios no apuntan a la homofobia|trans-title=Police do not disregard any hypothesis about Samuel, but the first indications do not point to homophobia |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.es/entry/primeros-indicios-samuel-no-fue-agresion-homofoba_es_60e439b9e4b0e01b6b2292a3 |access-date=6 July 2021 |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |date=6 July 2021 |language=Spanish}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite news |title=Primeros indicios apuntan a que muerte de Samuel no fue una agresión homófoba|trans-title=First indications point to the death of Samuel as not being a homophobic attack|url=https://www.efe.com/efe/espana/sociedad/primeros-indicios-apuntan-a-que-muerte-de-samuel-no-fue-una-agresion-homofoba/10004-4579564 |access-date=6 July 2021 |publisher=[[EFE]] |date=6 July 2021 |language=Spanish}}</ref> According to investigators, the group of strangers would not have known that Luiz was gay. However, one witness explains that he could have been likely picked apart on the grounds of his gender expression since he appeared to be feminine. <ref name="huffington" /><ref>{{Cite web|datename=2021-07-05|title=Lina, la amiga que fue testigo de cómo mataban a Samuel": 3"Fue un crimen homófobo"|url=https://www.telecinco.es/elprogramadeanarosa/sucesos/lina-amiga-samuel-testigo-muerte-crimen-homofobo_18_3165496012.html|access-date=2021-07-10|website=telecinco|language=es-ES}}</ref> By the night of that same day, three people – two male and one female – were officially in custody.<ref name="20m">{{cite news|last1=Carrero|first1=Manu|title=Tres detenidos, no se considera agresión homófoba... así avanza la investigación sobre el asesinato de Samuel|language=Spanish|trans-title=Three arrests, not considered homophobic attack... how the investigation into the murder of Samuel is progressing|work=[[20 minutos]]|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4755784/0/tres-detenidos-no-se-considera-agresion-homofoba-asi-avanza-la-investigacion-sobre-el-asesinato-de-samuel/|access-date=6 July 2021}}</ref> On 8 July the police confirmed an arrest of a fourth attacker, who allegedly also stole the victim's mobile phone after the attack.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> None of the arrested subjects has previous criminal records.<ref name=":1" />