Mother of police officer who died after Trujillo massacre asks for his body to be examined: “I am willing to have the coffin opened”

Jesica Rodríguez says she is willing to have her son’s coffin opened to settle the question of how he died. The mother of Peruvian police subofficer Diego Vela Rodríguez asked specialized experts to examine his body after accounts indicated that he had been killed by gunfire.

“ My son was never shot. My son died from poor balance and, because he was drunk, he fell. I am willing to have the coffin opened and for them to examine my son’s body,” Rodríguez told the press.

She challenged the versions that said Vela had been shot, saying he did not have bullet wounds when she was able to see his body. She also rejected any suggestion that the officer was involved in criminal activity, describing him as a hard-working young man with no history of participation in crimes.

According to Rodríguez’s account, Vela left his police unit at about 6 p.m. on the day before the massacre in Trujillo. He later went to his apartment and slept until 6 p.m. the following day. His colleagues invited him to celebrate his approaching birthday, and he told his mother that he planned to go to a nightclub at about 10 p.m.

During the early morning, telephone calls alerted the family to what had happened. Rodríguez said Vela was later taken to a health facility and arrived alive, but died on the way, according to her account. She is calling for a forensic evaluation to establish precisely what caused the officer’s death, which occurred hours after the quadruple murder and kidnapping in Trujillo that prompted a major police and prosecutorial investigation.

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My son was never shot. My son died from poor balance and, because he was drunk, he fell. I am willing to have the coffin opened and for them to examine my son’s body.