The body of María Celeste Segovia Colmán, 31, was found on Tuesday afternoon in a thicket at the Itá Yvate’i settlement, in the Nueva Italia district, Central department. The victim, a single mother of two young children who worked as a day laborer, lived in the Isla Guavirá settlement in the same municipality.
According to police, she was killed with a stab wound to the neck, and the body was covered with coconut palm leaves. The murder weapon was recovered.
The main suspect, Facundo Mauricio Balbuena Villasboa, 19, was arrested at the scene. He was already under house arrest and awaiting trial for attempted murder — four years ago, he allegedly took a gun to school and shot a classmate. Additionally, a Kenton Shark motorcycle reported stolen in the Alto Paraná department was found at his home.
According to the young man's account to authorities, he and María Celeste were lovers but had not been together for about four months. On the day of the crime, she allegedly told him she was pregnant. Balbuena allegedly asked her to have an abortion, but when she refused, an argument preceded the attack.
After the crime, he allegedly transported the body to the thicket and tried to hide it. He then told a friend what had happened, and the friend reported it to the victim's family, leading to the discovery of the corpse.