Geicimara’s Death Was Never a Suicide: Why Colombia’s Femicide Response Failed Her

• 🔍 Reclassified as homicide — After months of silence, the Fiscalía now admits what residents already knew: Geicimara was murdered.

• 📹 Surveillance and timeline gaps — Her boyfriend fled with her devices, escaped the country within 24 hours, and was never flagged.

• ⚖️ System failure — By treating femicide like a domestic tragedy, Colombian authorities let another killer walk free.

In March, I reported on a death in my apartment complex of a 21-year old Brazilian national, who I happened to know. It was by far my most impactful article I've written, and my most personal. I kept everything vague in it because I didn't want to muddy the water with the investigation for the Fiscalia and mostly out of respect for the family of the young lady. I actually knew her. Last week, the Fiscalia said they have reclassified this as a homicide, and are now putting their resources into finding her boyfriend Gabriel, who is also a Brazilian.

I'm sorry, but... What? We all said from the beginning this was a murder; we all heard it happen. Let's look at the facts that they knew that night, but didn't tell us:

• 3 minutes prior to the crash, at roughly midnight there was a loud yelling argument that lasted the entirety of the 3 minutes leading up to the fall.

• Once the crash happened, there is video surveillance of Gabriel getting in the elevator of the 6th building going to the ground floor less than one minute after the crash.

• He then ran out of the front door scared and barely waited for the guards to open the door, then disappeared to Avenida Las Vegas where there we no cameras.

• He took her phone, laptop and tablet with him.

• There are reports of him getting on an international flight in Bogota the next day.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like she was "distraught over a fight and jumped off of a 16th story balcony to commit suicide" (sarcasm).

Also, to the Colombian news media outlets, she did not die instantly as you say. She suffered for 2 agonizing minutes before she passed. Yes, she was clinging to life on the patio she fell through. Nobody can say at least she died quickly. I'm sorry to say it this way, she was in a fight, and the terror she must have felt before going over the railing, then the 3-4 seconds of falling and living for 2 minutes after going through a wood/steel/tempered glass awning. She fell 12 stories to her death. I don't mean to be triggering, but culture here tends to gloss over bad things that happen with a 'que pena', or a 'que triste' and move on.

I didn't publish her name before because it wasn't out in the public space and I didn't want her family in Brazil to have to deal with it. Since the Fiscalia released it last week, I will tell you about her:

Her name was Geicimara de Almeida Gomes. She will be forever 21. She worked out at the same time as me, and we were friendly to each other. She had an infectious laugh, and was very funny. A big bright smile and the aura of someone you want to be around. She also kicked my ass on leg day on more than one occasion. She was a sweet young woman who loved to have fun. She was someone's daughter and the friend to many. She was a good person with a great heart, and a jealous boyfriend took her from her family and the rest of the world.

Here is the problem with this investigation - By initially ruling this a suicide despite the MOUNTAIN of evidence to the contrary, the police allowed her boyfriend to get away. He was labeled as a "person with information", and not put on a no-fly list immediately. Within 24 hours of her death, he was seen at El Dorado Airport in Bogota, and from there he has not been seen since.

By ruling this a suicide, the police led her family to believe she took her own life, and had the grief of having that knowledge. While we can't know what was going on in her head, we are not stupid either. There were patterns of abuse that she hid, this fits the dictionary definition of femicide, because last time daft assholes wanted to dismiss the whole incident because it didn't fit their definition of the term.

I fear it's too late to do anything resembling justice in this case. This is the Timothy Allen Livingston case all over again, it just isn't dealing with attempting to pay for sex with minors. The police and immigration dropped the ball, and someone who deserves to be buried under the prison was able to return to their home country after doing exploiting women in Colombia. There need to be changes in how law enforcement handles investigations here. This is more grave than Livingston giving a 250k peso bribe to a police officer so he could get out of town on the next flight before the news went wide. Gabriel's evasion is not covering up for bribery, but is just incompetence.

The media stopped caring about her as soon as they published the story. They wouldn't have followed up at all unless Mayor Fico Gutierrez didn't push for the update and reclassification. My question is this, how much different would this have been handled if she went went over my balcony? Would the media have cared? How many "Fucking gringos are monsters" comments would there have been? It wouldn't have been because of a girl's untimely death, it would be to fit a echo chamber narrative, to confirm biases. Because it was a Brazilian, it's excused, and society moves on.

I have a little girl I care deeply about here, and I'm scared for her future here. Most of me wants to get on a plane and get her out of here. I feel like the mayor cares about the people here, but he can't change national policies. I want to say this as clearly as I can - Gabriel is a murderer who ruthlessly murdered his girlfriend. He threw her off of a 16th story balcony, where she fell through an iron, wood and tempered glass awning, lived for about 2 minutes, suffered and died. With an overwhelming amount of evidence, he walked (or ran) away. No all points bulletin, no hold on his immigration status, nothing. He is free and if you don't think he will kill another woman or a child, you're not living in reality. When he does, maybe it will be someone you know, maybe it will be connected to someone in government, then they might actually care.