The Family Environment of the Dead Girl in Luyano Points to the Neglect of Cuba’s Social Services

Kamila Melit Alonso Ocampo, only 2 years old, was buried last Friday (Facebook).

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, October 24, 2023 — A fatal error led to the death of Kamila Melit Alonso Ocampo, only 2 years old, from one of the many blows that her mother’s partner frequently inflicted on her. The death of the minor last week in Luyanó, Havana, has unleashed a wave of indignation and differing accounts in which the Hijas de Galicia hospital is accused of neglect.

But the most serious failure, according to family sources that 14ymedio had access to, occurred just two days earlier, due to the lack of action on the part of the social worker dealing with the situation in which Kamila Melit and her older brother were living. Their parents had separated this year and their mother, Karla Ocampo, had started a new relationship.

In Luyanó, according to neighbors, it was known that the man had drug problems. Nor did it seem to be a secret that Karla’s two children were suffering abuse at the hands of both of them. Indeed, last Tuesday the girl was visited by a social worker who saw Kamila Melit’s black eye and asked her how it had happened. The little girl accused her brother of having thrown her into the baby carriage, but the minor — called in by the social worker — denied the incident and declared that it had been their mother’s fault.

The autopsy, according to sources from the medical center itself, states that blood and other liquids were found in the stomach of the minor

It is not known what could have occurred that led to there being no intervention by the social worker in a situation of evident risk for the children, but just two days later the tragedy was triggered. Karla Ocampo left her children with her partner to go out to the pharmacy and, according to the same sources familiar with the case, he kicked her in the stomach to push her out of his way as she was about to pass. When the mother returned, Karla was practically dead.

This was the state she was in, at least, when she was admitted to the hospital, where there was not even an opportunity to try to save her life. The autopsy, according to sources at the medical center itself, states that blood and other liquids were found in the stomach of the minor, who also showed signs of hypoglycemia and malnutrition.

The forensic examination also indicates that the girl had multiple contusions in several areas of her body and a damaged trachea, presumably because at some point she had been forcibly grabbed by the neck.

The incident occurred on Melones street in the Luyanó neighborhood. There both Karla Ocampo and Nelson Entunakua were arrested in connection with the death of the girl and after neighbors attempted to attack them.

Kamila Melit was buried last Friday and, for the moment, the case is being investigated by the police. The news has not emerged in the official press.

Translated by Sterling Cole – University of Miami/Spanish 321

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