Tragic Injustice: Five Years and Eight Months for the Death of a Military Service Youth

Milagros García is left heartbroken over the loss of her 19-year-old son, Adrián Rodríguez García, who was tragically killed on December 31, 2023. A motorcyclist, driving without a license and under the influence of alcohol, struck Adrián. Instead of helping the injured young man, the motorcyclist fled the scene.

On January 17, 2025, Milagros received the devastating news of the sentence given to Robeisy Pedrozo Gómez, the man responsible for her son's death. He was sentenced to a mere five years and eight months in prison, despite the prosecution's request for nine years and the defense seeking three. The ruling was handed down by a tribunal comprised of Yeline de la Caridad Embaló Quijano, Yaimy Cabrera Sánchez (the reporting judge), and Odalys Cos Pérez.

"My son is gone. Where is Cuba's justice?" Milagros questions, filled with indignation as she compares the leniency of this sentence to harsher penalties given for crimes like cattle theft or political offenses. "While nothing can bring my boy back, he at least deserved a fair trial, one conducted with dignity. That vile murderer should pay for his actions, only then can my son rest in peace. Losing him has shattered my world, and this trial has buried me further," she laments.

Reflecting on the circumstances, Milagros shares, "How could this happen? My son was fulfilling his military service duties due to the negligence of the military unit." She had visited Adrián on the very day he died, expecting him to be released to their family soon, as he had completed his service. However, her world was upended three hours later when the military unit informed her of his death.

Initially, she was told that Adrián had been granted permission to leave for New Year's Eve. However, when she questioned why he was let go, they claimed he had escaped on a bicycle. It was during this alleged escape that he was fatally struck, later dying at a nearby clinic where a couple had rushed him after witnessing the incident.

"The most painful part isn't just that he died; accidents can happen to anyone. The worst part is that he was left without aid; he could have survived. He was still conscious, squeezing the hand of a woman who stopped to help, trying desperately to speak, but couldn't due to a head injury," Milagros recounts in a statement to CiberCuba. She suspects her son was not escaping but rather running an errand for military officers who mistreated him, even making him exercise post-surgery.

Adding to her grief, Milagros is frustrated by inaccuracies in the trial documents, which stated her son was transported to a military hospital, whereas he actually died at Marta Abreu Clinic in Santa Clara. "A vibrant, good-hearted boy, full of dreams and ambitions," she mourns.

Now, Milagros is calling for legal reforms, arguing that current laws are poorly crafted. What happened to her son, she insists, "is not justice." "Unless one has lost a child, they cannot fathom the depth of this pain. It feels like living death," she shares.

To the mothers of the nine recruits who perished in the Holguín explosion, she urges perseverance. "Demand the return of your children's remains, even if only in fragments."