Heidy Michelle Marmolejo García will face trial for allegedly planning and ordering the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Edgar Paul Tejada García, known as “El ministro,” and attempting to take the life of Kaleymi Angelí Cosme Feliciano, with whom Tejada García had a young child.
After hearing evidence presented by the Carolina Prosecutor’s Office over four days of preliminary hearings, Judge Lynette Rivera ruled on Friday there is sufficient cause to bring Marmolejo García to trial. She has been identified as the intellectual author behind the brutal crime.
According to the investigation by the Police Bureau and Department of Justice, Marmolejo García planned and hired Giovany J. Maldonado Ortiz, under the promise of payment, to carry out the murder of her ex-partner in October 2022. Maldonado Ortiz, in turn, recruited Giovann Stella Laboy to execute the victim.
Prosecutors Juan M. Mencacci Bagú, Lismar I. Rodríguez Silva, and Kechia M. Díaz Aponte have charged them with first-degree murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment for discharging a firearm, and violations of Puerto Rico’s Weapons Law.
The co-defendants, Stella Laboy and Maldonado Ortiz had already pleaded guilty to probable cause and await trial.
Marmolejo García, who was initially charged in absentia because she evaded jurisdiction, was arrested in Texas in July and later extradited to the island by the Department of Justice.
According to the police investigation, in the early morning of October 29, 2022, the defendants went to Tejada García’s house. They followed him from a motor vehicle, continually shooting at him until they reached Baldorioty de Castro Avenue in Carolina, causing his death from multiple gunshot wounds. Cosme Feliciano was in the car with the victim and survived the attack.
Jealous Ex Unable to Move On After Breakup
Sources close to the victim say Marmolejo García was unable to accept the end of their relationship, especially after Tejada García had a child with another woman. Her jealousy and bitterness festered, ultimately leading her to take the most extreme measure imaginable – cold-blooded murder.
The brutal slaying shocked the Carolina community, where Tejada García was a well-known and generally well-liked figure. Many are grappling to make sense of such a horrific act of violence stemming from a soured romance.
Marmolejo García’s trial will likely begin within the next few months. If convicted of first-degree murder, she faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The hired gunmen also face the possibility of life behind bars for their roles in this chilling crime of passion.