Laurence Dollimore
A SPANISH mother who confessed to dumping the body of her disabled teenage son into a rubbish container is likely to avoid jail, it has emerged.
Antonio David Barroso (pictured above with his mother), 15, is said to have died at the family home in Moron de la Frontera, Sevilla, between September 6 and 12, 2021.
His mother, Macarena Diaz, had stopped giving him his vital medication some time before he died.
He suffered from severe encephalopathy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and cerebral palsy.
But according to Prensa Iberica, Diaz is being charged with a lesser charge of negligent homicide.
Her legal team has also requested an exemption due to her bipolar disorder, which means she will likely avoid jail.
Diaz also admitted that she stopped taking her own medication in the months before her son died.
According to the psychiatric report included in court documents, Diaz suffered severe episodes that affected her ability to understand the consequences of her actions.
It comes as the boy’s father is demanding a much harsher sentence for his ex-wife.
He asked prosecutors to seek a 20-year-sentence for manslaughter, claiming she knew the implications of stopping the boy’s medication.
This request, however, was rejected by the investigating judge.
Following the teen’s death, Diaz put his body in the boot of her car and travelled through Sevilla, Cadiz, Badajoz, Caceres, Toledo, Madrid and Segovia.
She was eventually admitted to a psychiatric centre in Segovia, where she told a priest she was convinced her son would be resurrected.
She allegedly said her son had been dumped in a rubbish container in the Aluche neighbourhood of Madrid.
The mother later retracted the claim and said she could not remember where she left him.
Antonio’s body has never been found despite a widespread search across multiple provinces.
Investigators are looking into whether he was thrown into the Tagus River, but there is no evidence confirming that hypothesis to date.
As the trial gets underway in Sevilla, Diaz is free to live at home and says she is studying to become a nurse.
A tragic tale that few could understand. Where is the father in providing hands-on care for this child and seeing the child suffer daily? It’s no wonder that the mother has mental health issues after 15 years of this. I cared for my adult son for 10 years after a massive brain injury that left him in a ‘low response state’; nobody could convince me that he was unaware. I lost him when Margate hospital terminated his treatment. I can appreciated the torment of this mother and the suffering of the child.