Lawyer Girlfriend Of Colombian Gang Boss Shot Dead By Hitman After Starting Peace Talks

This is the moment the lawyer girlfriend of a jailed Colombian gang boss was shot dead at point-blank range by a hitman outside her home.

Mayra Alejandra Vera Duarte was killed in a residential complex in Puerto Colombia, in the Atlántico department of northern Colombia, near the Caribbean city of Barranquilla, on 9 June.

Footage shows Mayra, who, who was trying to negotiate a truce with the government, walking towards a large dark grey Toyota Hilux when a gunman ran in from the left after spotting her.

The attacker walked straight up to her as she reached out her hands in a desperate attempt to stop him. He then opened fire at point-blank range as Mayra collapses beside the vehicle.

The killer continues shooting after she falls to the ground and appears to grab an item from her, believed to be a purse or phone, before firing again and fleeing the way he came.

Mayra, who was also known as La Mona, was the partner of Jorge Eliécer Díaz Collazos, alias Castor, the jailed leader of the Los Costeños criminal gang.

Local media said she had been involved in the urban peace talks between Los Costeños and Colombia’s national government.

Judicial sources said the attackers had allegedly entered the residential complex in advance and waited until Mayra left her home and headed towards the Hilux.

Witnesses told authorities she was about to get into the vehicle when the gunman approached from behind and shot her directly.

One witness said: “Then, on the ground, he kept shooting, as if finishing her off.”

The Atlántico branch of the Prosecutor’s Office has opened a formal investigation into the circumstances of the murder.

Police Judicial units carried out a technical inspection of the body and began collecting evidence, including video footage and witness statements.

Authorities are reportedly examining several lines of inquiry, including possible links to internal disputes and clashes between criminal groups operating in Atlántico.

Mayra’s lawyer, Dario Rendón, said he had warned for months that she and members of his legal team were at risk after threats from criminal groups who had declared war on Castor.

Rendón said: “The homicide of Dr Vera Duarte constitutes a clear indirect intimidating message against my work, and shows that the authors of these acts are seeking to attack me, having already carried out the murder of a direct collaborator of my team.”

He said Mayra’s role had been limited to acting as an intermediary between government delegates and criminal group leaders, mainly Los Costeños, in northern Colombia.

Castor was sentenced in March to 26 years and four months in prison after accepting responsibility for 95 murders committed between 2014 and 2024 in Barranquilla and its metropolitan area.

The sentence also covered armed attacks that left 38 people injured, weapons offences and threats against a public official.

Mayra had previously been arrested in February 2023 after prosecutors linked her to an investigation into alleged financing of Los Costeños, extortion and land disputes.

She was later released after a judge ruled there were not enough grounds to order her held in prison, although she remained linked to the case.

Authorities have not yet announced arrests over her murder.

(Aloysius Fernades/Newsflash)