Luz Mery Tristán Femicide: Colombia Appeals Court Cuts Ricci Sentence to 41 Years 8 Months
JUSTICE · COLOMBIA
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia has treated femicide as a separate crime since Law 1761 of 2015. Aggravated femicide carries 500 to 600 months in prison.
- —What happened On 28 September 2026 the Superior Court of Cali upheld Andrés Gustavo Ricci García’s aggravated femicide conviction for killing ex-world skating champion Luz Mery Tristán in August 2023.
- —The numbers Trial term (4 March 2025): 45 years 9 months. Appeal: 500 months, or 41 years 8 months (El País, victims’ lawyer on Blu Radio); a prosecution statement says 41 years 5 months.
- —What it means for you The femicide finding survived review by a higher court. Only a separate firearms count fell, because Ricci held a gun permit.
- —Still open The defence may still seek extraordinary cassation before the Supreme Court. The full written ruling has not been published.
An appeals court in Colombia has confirmed that the 2023 killing of former skating champion Luz Mery Tristán was an aggravated femicide. It also shortened the prison term of her former partner, businessman Andrés Gustavo Ricci García.
The Superior Court of Cali set the new term at 500 months, or 41 years and 8 months, El País reported. The trial court had imposed 45 years and 9 months in March 2025, El Espectador and El Tiempo reported.
What the Appeals Court Decided
The Tribunal Superior de Cali is the regional appeals court for the city and its surroundings. Its criminal chamber read the second-instance ruling at a hearing on Monday 28 September, Caracol Radio reported.
The court found that Ricci killed Tristán on the night of 4 to 5 August 2023 at their home in Cali. The Fiscalía, Colombia’s prosecution service, places the house in comuna 19, on the road to the Cerro de Cristo Rey hill.
The chamber rejected the defence’s bid to treat the death as negligent homicide or as simple homicide, El País reported. Infobae, citing El Tiempo, said the ruling found he fired at least four times through a door she was sheltering behind.
The court kept a 20-year ban on holding public office, Blu Radio and El País reported.
41 Years 8 Months or 41 Years 5 Months?
Reports of the new term differ by three months. A Fiscalía statement carried by Blu Radio, Caracol Radio, El Espectador and El Heraldo gives 41 years and 5 months.
The victims’ lawyer, Luis Hernán Valero, told Blu Radio the court lowered the femicide term from 525 to 500 months. The 525 months, or 43 years and 9 months, was the femicide part of the original 45 years and 9 months; the rest was for the firearms count, El País reported. El País and Infobae also report 41 years and 8 months, which equals exactly 500 months.
The 500-month figure is the better-attested one. It equals the legal minimum for aggravated femicide, while 41 years and 5 months would sit three months below that minimum.
Why the Sentence Was Reduced
Two changes explain the cut. First, the court dropped a conviction for illegal firearms possession, because Ricci held the relevant permit.
The Fiscalía itself had asked for that at the close of the trial, Blu Radio reported. Valero said the court resolved the doubt over the permits in the defendant’s favour.
Second, the court corrected how the trial judge set the femicide term. Infobae, citing El Tiempo, said the judge chose 525 months without explaining why he went above the 500-month floor.
Valero said the family accepts the outcome. “What was always sought was that it be an aggravated femicide,” he told Blu Radio.
Who Luz Mery Tristán Was
Tristán was born in Pereira and grew up in Cali, where she took up roller skating. She became world champion in 1990 and was 60 when she was killed, El Heraldo recalled.
Cali’s 14th Criminal Circuit Court issued the first ruling on 4 March 2025. It described years of jealousy, control and harassment, and rejected Ricci’s claim of an accident, El Espectador reported.
How Colombia Prosecutes Femicide
Colombia made femicide a separate crime in 2015 with Law 1761, known as the Rosa Elvira Cely law. The basic offence carries 250 to 500 months, and the aggravated form 500 to 600.
The region is debating the same questions. Peru is weighing a bill to end sentence reductions for femicide. Paraguay recently imposed its maximum sentence in a landmark femicide case.
Valero urged women facing physical or psychological abuse to watch for warning signs and to report it. In Colombia, the free national helpline 155 gives guidance to women facing violence.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not known whether the defence will seek extraordinary cassation before the Supreme Court. El Heraldo and El País noted that legal remedies against the ruling remain open.
The full written ruling has not been published, so the three-month discrepancy cannot yet be checked against the document. Ricci, 61, remains in Picaleña high-security prison in Tolima, Infobae reported.
Sources: Blu Radio (Fiscalía statement), 28 Sep 2026; Blu Radio (interview with lawyer Luis Hernán Valero), 28 Sep 2026; El País Cali, 29 Sep 2026; Caracol Radio, 28 Sep 2026; El Espectador, 28 Sep 2026; El Heraldo, 28 Sep 2026; Infobae (citing El Tiempo), 27 Sep 2026; El Tiempo, 28 Sep 2026; Law 1761 of 2015 (Rosa Elvira Cely law).
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