He Shot His Father 14 Times. Uruguay Sentenced Him to 12 Years.

Moisés Martínez stayed with his father's body for two days before picking up the phone. When he finally called the police, he did not run or deny anything. He told them what he had done and waited for them to come. That detail alone tells you something about the weight of what led to May 25, 2025.

Moisés was 28 years old. His father, Carlos Martínez, had spent years sexually abusing multiple members of the family. His sister Ana had been raped repeatedly over a long period of time. His sister Sara, who would later testify in the case, said the abuse happened to her more than 60 times. Each time, according to Sara, their father would give her an alfajor, a type of candy common in Uruguay, and ask for her forgiveness.

The Report That Changed Nothing

Sara was 12 years old when she decided she could not stay silent anymore. She had witnessed her older sister Ana being abused, and she went to the authorities. Her father was prosecuted and convicted. He received a three-year sentence. He served one year. Then he was released and returned to the family's world.

Sara later criticized how the legal system initially classified what was done to her, noting it was labeled indecent assault rather than sexual abuse, a distinction she felt failed to reflect the reality of what occurred across more than a decade of her life.

What Moisés Learned, and What He Did

Before the shooting, Moisés came to understand the full extent of what his father had done, including abuse suffered by his mother and his sisters over the years. On May 25, 2025, he shot his father 14 times. He then remained at the scene, with the body, for two days. When he contacted police, he assumed full responsibility for the killing.

The prosecution argued the case met the conditions for especially aggravated homicide, pointing to the family relationship between Moisés and his father and the use of a firearm. The prosecutor requested an 18-year sentence. The defense pointed to Article 36 of Uruguay's Penal Code, which allows judges to exempt individuals from punishment for homicide when it results from intense distress caused by chronic suffering from domestic violence. The prosecution countered that the abuse documented had occurred more than 15 years prior, making it difficult to establish that Moisés was living in active terror at the moment he pulled the trigger.

The judge sentenced Moisés to 12 years in prison for the crime of especially aggravated homicide. The exemption under Article 36 was not applied.

The Response That Reached the Presidency

Outside the courthouse, crowds gathered with a single message: Moisés had only served justice, and he should be freed. The phrase spread quickly and became the rallying point for a public movement that grew louder after the verdict was handed down.

The response did not stop at the streets. Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi received the Martínez family in person. Inside Parliament, legislators began formally promoting a pardon for Moisés, moving the case from the courts into the political sphere. The legal process, it turned out, was not the last word.

Following his sentencing, Moisés was hospitalized for mental health care after a suicide attempt involving the ingestion of controlled medications. His legal situation continued to develop as his defense team navigated proceedings around his house arrest conditions and his medical status. The question of whether he would return to prison, receive a pardon, or face further legal complications remained open and unresolved, with his family, the Parliament, and the presidency all now part of a story that began in one household and grew into a national reckoning with how justice handles the survivors of long-term family violence.