Two femicides in the Dominican Republic bring the 2026 toll to 81 victims

Two women were shot dead this weekend in the Dominican Republic in cases attributed to their partners or ex-partners, bringing to 81 the number of femicides recorded in the country during 2026, according to the count published by Diario Libre. Days earlier, Women's Minister Gloria Reyes had reported the total at 79.

In San Juan de la Maguana, Jocelyn Ceballo Matrillé, 36, died in the early hours of Friday in an apartment in the Caonabo Tower residential complex, according to the National Police. Francisco Rosendo Moya Tavares, 57, identified as her ex-partner, was arrested. The victim, originally from San Francisco de Macorís, leaves behind two underage daughters, one of them with a disability, who are now in the care of the authorities.

The second case occurred in the El Paraíso sector of Esperanza, in Valverde province, where Rosanny del Carmen Almonte Molina, 47, died. Authorities are investigating the killing, attributed to her husband, Leonalfry Torres Hernández, who allegedly shot her and then wounded himself; he remains hospitalized under police custody. Relatives said the relationship had a history of assaults and restraining orders.

The toll comes days after the Fundación Vida Sin Violencia reported 77 intimate-partner femicides this year and 110 children left motherless. The Attorney General's Office said in September that the 2025 total, 59 cases, had already been surpassed. On Saturday, Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso opened in Santiago Rodríguez the province's first Comprehensive Care Unit for Victims of Gender Violence.

Photo: El Seis

Source: El Seis