Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Judge Declares Villa Crespo Psychiatrist Not Criminally Responsible, Orders Involuntary Hospitalization

Forensic exams found she could not understand or control her actions, prompting an exceptional psychiatric commitment.

Overview

  • The 56-year-old resident threatened neighbors Saturday in a Villa Crespo building and tried to start fires by lighting paper napkins in common areas.
  • She spray-painted a swastika with the word "cowards" on a neighbor’s door and used a steel hammer to break the latch on the door to the electrical panels.
  • After neighbors called the City Police, the Flagrancy Unit North, a rapid-response prosecutorial team led by aide Matías Vila, detained her in the act, opened a case for suspected arson and damage, and posted a police guard at the building.
  • Psychiatric and psychological evaluations by Hospital Fernández, the Judicial Investigations Corps, and the Forensic Medicine Directorate found she posed an imminent risk and was unfit to face trial.
  • Judge José Béguelin ruled her not imputable and ordered her admitted to the Torcuato de Alvear psychiatric hospital, and reports of a 2025 hospitalization followed by dropped treatment have renewed concern over outpatient follow-up.