A mother and her teenage daughter have gone on trial for allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old girl to death in front of her mum.
Gabriela Nicole Pratts Rosario was knifed up to eight times.
The brutal attack was allegedly carried out by Elvia Cabrera Rivera, 40, and her 17-year-old daughter, Anthonieshka Avilés Cabrera, who was reportedly once a friend of the victim.
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The violence erupted during end-of-summer festivities in the Puerto Rican town of Aibonito in the early hours of 11 August.
According to local reports, Gabriela’s older sister was attacked first.
Gabriela stepped in to defend her – unaware that the group was armed.
A 16-year-old boy who tried to shield her was also stabbed three times and nearly lost a lung.
Gabriela’s mother, Lisandra Rosario, is said to have tried to intervene, but was restrained.
Police arrived within minutes and rushed Gabriela to the hospital, but she could not be saved.
Her friend was transferred to a medical centre in San Juan in critical condition, as reported by Need To Know.
Elvia and Anthonieshka have been charged with first-degree murder and weapons offences.
They are being held on remand in separate facilities, both denying involvement and refusing to give statements.
Puerto Rico’s Justice Secretary, Lourdes Gómez Torres, said the pair acted in “common agreement”.
Anthonieshka will be tried as an adult – as permitted in cases of first-degree murder – and both face life sentences if convicted.
While the mother and daughter are the only ones formally charged, police say as many as six suspects may have been involved. More arrests are expected.
Investigators have seized a bladed weapon, bloodstained clothing, and a suspected getaway car from the home of Anthonieshka’s grandmother.
Gabriela, who had dreamed of studying psychology, was just a day away from her 17th birthday and about to start her final year of high school.
Her mother wrote in a heartbreaking tribute: “Of all the angels in heaven, one of them is my eternal love – my daughter.
“Baby, I miss you so much.
“I wish it had happened to me and not to you.
“You were just beginning to live, my Lela.
“I feel an emptiness in my heart that I cannot bear.
“You left your sister and me all alone.
“My Lela, I always told you not to trust that a ‘friend’ can be nothing but a burden – and now they took your life in the worst way.
“I swear that justice will come.
“I love you, and I will love you all my life, my eternal love.”
The pair are due back in court on Monday (25 Aug).
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