With this murder, there have been 20 femicides in Cuba since January.
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 28 July 2025 — Kenia Rodríguez Mora, a resident of the Havana neighborhood of Luyanó and mother of a 7-year-old girl, is the latest victim of domestic violence recorded in Cuba. According to 14ymedio sources, on Sunday her partner, the child’s father, threw her from the roof of the home they shared on Rodríguez Street.
Although the news has not been confirmed by independent Cuban feminist associations, residents of Luyanó told this newspaper about the incident, which did not come as a surprise to those around them. “The man is an alcoholic and beat her constantly. They say the woman had been enduring the beatings for years until today, and that’s when he killed her,” says a woman living a few blocks away.
“The fight started last night, and in the morning he continued hitting her and threatening her,” continues the neighbor, who claims that Kenia ran up to hide on the roof, where the alleged murderer chased her and threw her off. Later, according to the story, he tried to take her to the hospital, but nothing could be done for her.
“The fight started last night, and in the morning he continued hitting her and threatening her,” continues the neighbor, who claims that Kenia ran up to hide on the roof, where the alleged murderer chased her and threw her off.
“I passed by there a while ago and there were two police officers,” says another resident. “The woman was very poor, she didn’t even have any clothes. She lived selling and begging,” he says. Another neighbor remembers Kenia frequently stopping by her house trying to earn some money or begging. “Terrible. She didn’t even weigh 100 pounds and was just over 5 feet tall,” she adds.
Reluctant to share much more, neighbors claim the alleged attacker was a very violent man feared in the neighborhood, as rumors suggest he had a history of murder. Witnesses say the police arrested the attacker, but they fear he will be released and return to the neighborhood.
With the murder of Rodríguez Mora—whose surname was provided by independent platforms when reporting the news—this year’s record of femicides compiled by this newspaper has risen to 20. Just this Sunday, the same day as the events, the death of 29-year-old Yailín Carrasco, at the hands of her partner, was confirmed in Cienfuegos on July 22. According to the Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo observatories in Cuba, the crime occurred “in front of at least one of the three surviving girls.”
Both associations made public the death of another woman murdered in the street in Holguín on July 13, Yailín Requejo, 41. In that case, the state press reported on the murder only to announce the arrest of the attacker last Tuesday. However, the woman, described as a “young wife,” was not identified, and it was stated that Requejo’s youngest daughter was seriously injured.
In 2024, 14ymedio recorded 52 murders due to gender-based violence based on independent records. According to figures from the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality, a total of 76 gender-based murders in which the victims were over 15 years old were prosecuted in the country in 2024. The organization does not specify the dates on which the crimes were committed, but they most likely occurred in 2023 and 2024.
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