Lourdes Etchegoyen, Luna’s aunt, is heartbroken. She feels this immense tragedy could have been avoided. Her young niece, just 13 years old, was shot and killed by her own father on Tuesday. The 58-year-old retired Army colonel then took his own life. The horrific event unfolded in an interdisciplinary center located in downtown Maldonado.
Luna’s father had a history of "psychological violence." This abusive behavior was aimed at both Luna and her mother, his ex-partner. Luna often shared stories about her father’s harshness. For example, if Luna made her bed, and it didn’t meet his standards, he would undo it. He’d then force her to remake it from scratch. The same strictness applied to simple tasks, like preparing coffee with milk. If it wasn’t done exactly his way, he would throw it out and make her start over.
Despite these difficult experiences, Luna never spoke of physical violence. However, her fear of her father was very real. Her aunt, Lourdes, remembers a chilling moment in October 2024. She found Luna at INAU, Uruguay’s child welfare institute. Luna looked at her aunt and plainly stated, "Dad tried to kill me." When Lourdes pressed her about why she was so scared, Luna consistently gave one answer: "I don’t want my father to kill me." This deep-seated fear had a history; Lourdes mentioned one such episode happened in Salto while Luna was on vacation.
For Lourdes, Luna’s death represents a profound failure. She believes it could have been prevented. Lourdes argues that when Luna sought to reconnect with her father, more investigation was clearly needed. Authorities should have looked much deeper into the retired military man’s situation. Lourdes emphasized the many cries for help, noting Luna had been "asking for help" since her time in Salto. "I believe this could have been avoided," Lourdes told News Agency, her voice filled with deep sorrow and pain. "This is an enormous tragedy that could have been avoided."