Murder of Javier Viteri

Javier Slater Viteri Albuquerque was born on 28 July 1997 in Machala, Ecuador. He worked as a dental assistant in his cousin's practice, having earlier discontinued medical studies in Cuenca due to personal issues. His family abused him and admitted him to a "dehomosexualization" clinic after learning of his sexual orientation, and he moved to Arenillas in 2019 after being expelled from his home.

Hilmer Corozo was a 19-year-old military conscript who had been in contact with Viteri through social media for at least a day before the incident. On the night of 27 May 2020, at around 10 p.m., Viteri had a sexual encounter with Corozo, whose home address Viteri had shared by message. Corozo arrived while Viteri was playing video games with three friends; Viteri asked the friends to leave, and they waited outside near the house. After roughly forty minutes, Corozo fled the scene carrying a backpack belonging to one of the friends. The friends chased him but lost track of him near a military barracks to which Corozo belonged. When they returned to Viteri's apartment and forced open the door after receiving no response, they found Viteri's body along with three blood-stained sharp weapons and used condoms.

An autopsy found that Viteri had suffered between 80 and 90 stab wounds to the back, abdomen, chest, and neck, with reporting later specifying he had been stabbed 89 times. Police were able to identify Corozo as a suspect by reviewing Facebook conversations Viteri had made from his cousin's phone. Corozo, who had taken refuge in the military barracks, was arrested the following day and was identified as the perpetrator by Viteri's three friends. His cell phone, recovered in Corozo's possession, was confirmed to have traces of Viteri's blood.

The case drew significant media attention due to the brutality of the attack. LGBTQ organizations, including Guayaqueer and Silueta X, raised public awareness of the case. Although prosecutors initially investigated the crime as a murder connected to theft, LGBTQ activists and Ecuador's National Council for Gender Equality argued the characteristics of the killing pointed to hatred as a motive, and that the backpack theft was a distraction from that motive. During a psychological evaluation, Corozo admitted to being the perpetrator and said he had killed Viteri after feeling "bullied" by him.

Judge Guido Vaca presided over the trial, which began on 31 July 2020. A sentencing date planned for 16 June 2021 was postponed after Corozo's defense attorney reported contracting COVID-19. The final hearing took place at the Provincial Court of Machala on 7 July 2021, with relatives and friends of Viteri demonstrating outside the court to demand justice. Corozo was subsequently sentenced to 34 years and eight months in prison for the murder.