11-Year-Old Boy Stabbed to Death by Obsessed Attacker in Villanueva de la Cañada

An 11-year-old boy named David, of Romanian origin, was stabbed to death on Thursday, April 9, 2026, inside the restrooms of the La Despernada cultural center in Villanueva de la Cañada, a town of approximately 25,000 inhabitants in the northwest of the Community of Madrid. The suspect, a 23-year-old man of Peruvian origin identified as Julio, attacked the boy from behind, inflicting multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, and back. Emergency services from Summa 112 treated David on site, reversed a cardiorespiratory arrest once, and transferred him by medical helicopter to the Hospital 12 de Octubre, where his death was confirmed. According to the medical chief of Summa 112, Ester Armela, the boy presented multiple lesions compatible with knife wounds across the neck, thorax, and back. David had been attending an English class at the cultural center with his mother and two siblings when he went to the restrooms alone, at which point Julio followed him inside. The attack occurred at approximately 19:45 local time, and an off-duty National Police officer was the first to alert emergency services, subsequently requiring psychological attention herself.

Suspect held in psychiatric unit, list of targets found Julio fled the scene on foot after the attack and later appeared at the Rey Juan Carlos Hospital in Móstoles accompanied by an aunt, reportedly telling staff he had suffered a psychotic break, according to ABC. Civil Guard agents arrested him there hours after the murder, and he remains held in the psychiatric unit of the Móstoles hospital under guard. Investigators found that Julio, who carries a recognized 70 (%) — disability rating linked to grade 3 autism spectrum disorder disability rating linked to a grade 3 autism spectrum disorder, had compiled a list of other minors he also intended to attack, according to initial investigations reported by El Mundo. The Civil Guard searched the area around Estrella Park, adjacent to the crime scene, using biological remains detector dogs in an effort to locate the murder weapon, which had not yet been recovered as of Friday. Agents did recover a backpack containing plastic gloves allegedly used during the crime, and noted that Julio had changed his clothes before presenting himself at the hospital. Authorities are also examining the possibility that the suspect, with the assistance of relatives, may have sought to construct a legal defense centered on his mental health condition, according to ABC.

Weeks of obsession, Santería rituals, and a community's warnings Neighbors and acquaintances described a prolonged and escalating fixation by Julio on David that predated the killing by weeks, including attempts to use esoteric means to bind the child's affections. According to El Mundo, Julio wrote David's full name on the social media account of a Mexican practitioner of Santería during the Christmas period, requesting a ritual involving red and yellow candles to obtain the child's "faithful love." Acquaintances told the newspaper that Julio sought out similar rituals on YouTube and attempted to replicate them himself, and that his behavior was characterized by extreme possessiveness and emotional dependency. Parents of other children in the area had already warned their families to avoid contact with Julio, and David's own mother had instructed her son to stay away from him. David, however, was described by his football coach Quique as the one child who extended kindness to Julio when others rejected him. „David opens the doors to everyone, he is so good. I think the children pushed the aggressor aside and he accepted him as a friend.” — Quique via 20 minutos Witnesses also told El Mundo that Julio had on multiple occasions shown David a knife before the day of the killing, and that he had previously exhibited aggressive behavior toward other children in the town.

A community mourns a goalkeeper who "had the whole church love him" David was a goalkeeper for C.D. Villanueva de la Cañada and was remembered by teammates, neighbors, and members of the local Romanian Orthodox community as a gentle and well-liked child. His father, Gabriel, was singing at an Orthodox Holy Thursday mass — the Romanian Orthodox calendar placed Holy Thursday that week — when the parish priest's wife interrupted the service to tell him his son was dying, according to El Mundo. The following day, more than 350 people gathered in the town's Plaza de España to mourn, with some of David's teammates arriving in their green club jerseys and others placing a signed football and candles outside the cultural center. The club issued a statement expressing condolences to the family of their "Infantil A team goalkeeper." Luis Manuel Partida, the mayor of Villanueva de la Cañada, led a minute of silence in the Plaza de España on Friday morning. „The human mind is how it is, and those who suffer from problems, well, sometimes they are uncontrollable and, in this case, that is what happened.” — Luis Manuel Partida via 20 minutos Isabel Díaz-Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, also expressed condolences over the death of the child. David's family — his parents and two younger siblings, including a baby of just a few months — received direct support from the mayor and institutional representatives at the gathering, as flags flew at half-mast on municipal buildings across the town.

Villanueva de la Cañada is a municipality in the western part of the Community of Madrid, bordering Majadahonda, Boadilla del Monte, and Brunete. Under Spanish law, the murder of a minor by an adult can result in a sentence of permanent reviewable imprisonment, known as prisión permanente revisable, which was introduced into the Spanish penal code and allows for parole review after a set minimum period. The case has prompted public debate about the supervision and legal framework surrounding individuals with severe neurodevelopmental disorders who display violent or threatening behavior toward minors.