Dominican Republic orders preventive detention in partner shooting, delays police officer trial

A judge in Santo Domingo Este ordered three months of preventive detention for Tony Vallejo Méndez after he shot and killed his partner, Nancy Sánchez Gálvez, at the Darío Contreras Hospital on 22 June. A second woman present at the hospital was also gravely injured. Vallejo Méndez was charged under multiple articles of the Dominican Penal Code and the weapons control law.

In a separate case, a hearing on the coercive measure against police officer Tony Petit was postponed to 29 June. Petit is accused of causing the death of 66‑year‑old yaniqueque vendor Bartolo Rodríguez in Higüey on 21 June. The investigation continues, and Rodríguez’s burial took place in Villa Hermosa, La Romana, prompting community outrage.