The Murder of Samuel Luiz

Samuel Luiz Muñiz, 24, was killed during the early hours of July 3, 2021, near the Riazor seafront in A Coruña. The attack became a national case not only because of its brutality but because a homophobic insult and discriminatory motive were central to part of the eventual judicial findings. The final adult-case outcome is now clear: three men were convicted as authors of murder, while a fourth man who had initially been convicted as an accomplice was acquitted on appeal for insufficient evidence.

The confrontation

According to the facts later accepted by Spain's courts, Samuel was on a video call outside a nightlife venue when Diego Montaña Marzoa believed Samuel was recording him and his then partner. Montaña confronted Samuel. The Supreme Court later summarized the beginning of the attack as sudden and disproportionate, noting that Samuel was placed in a position of immediate defenselessness.

The judicial findings established that Montaña used a homophobic slur and attacked Samuel because of the homosexual orientation he attributed to him. Other attackers joined as the violence continued. The Supreme Court characterized the overall episode as a group attack in which the imbalance between Samuel and his assailants was overwhelming.

Samuel Luiz

Samuel was a young nursing assistant whose death generated demonstrations and public debate across Spain. For this dossier, however, the focus remains on the verified criminal proceedings rather than on turning his death into a symbol detached from the person who was killed. The court record establishes that he was pursued and assaulted by multiple people and died as a result of the attack.

The adult jury trial

In November 2024, a jury returned verdicts in the adult proceedings. The Provincial Court of A Coruña imposed sentences in January 2025. Diego Montaña received 24 years for murder with the aggravating circumstance of discrimination based on sexual orientation. Alejandro Freire García received 20 years for murder. Kaio Amaral Silva Costa received a total of 20 years and six months: 17 years for murder and three years and six months for violent robbery related to the theft of Samuel's mobile phone.

A fourth defendant, Alejandro Míguez Rodríguez, was initially sentenced to 10 years as an accomplice. A woman tried with the group was acquitted. These distinctions are essential: criminal responsibility was not identical for every person who appeared in the case.

The Galicia appeals court reverses one conviction

On May 22, 2025, the High Court of Justice of Galicia announced that it had acquitted Míguez because the evidence did not prove that he participated in or facilitated the fatal assault. The court held that his presumption of innocence had been violated by the earlier accomplice conviction. At the same time, it confirmed the prison sentences imposed on Montaña, Freire and Amaral.

That appellate decision matters because it prevents the case from being simplified into a claim that every adult defendant was ultimately convicted. One was not. His acquittal remained part of the final legal outcome.

The Supreme Court's final ruling

On December 29, 2025, Spain's Supreme Court confirmed the convictions and sentences of the three men found to be authors of Samuel's murder. It rejected challenges by the defense and also rejected prosecution and private-accusation efforts to overturn Míguez's acquittal.

The Supreme Court confirmed 24 years for Montaña, 20 years for Freire and 20 years and six months in total for Amaral. It also upheld compensation of more than €300,000 for Samuel's relatives.

The court affirmed that the circumstances of the attack supported murder rather than a lesser homicide offense because Samuel's ability to defend himself was effectively neutralized from the outset. The discriminatory aggravating circumstance based on sexual orientation was specifically confirmed for Montaña. Crime by Region does not automatically extend that aggravating finding to the other convicted men where the judgment did not do so.

Why the hate-motivation wording requires precision

Samuel's murder is widely discussed as an anti-gay killing, and the final judgment did establish a discriminatory motive for Montaña. The court record supports describing the case as involving homophobic violence. But legal precision requires another step: the specific aggravating circumstance was not simply attributed to every convicted participant by association. That is why this dossier separates the confirmed discriminatory motivation of the initial attacker from the murder liability of the other coauthors.

Timeline

1. July 3, 2021
   Samuel Luiz is attacked

   The 24-year-old is assaulted near the Riazor seafront in A Coruña and dies from the group attack.

2. November 2024
   Jury verdict

   The adult jury finds several defendants criminally responsible while acquitting one woman.

3. January 8, 2025
   Provincial Court sentences

   The court imposes prison terms on three murder authors and one man then treated as an accomplice.

4. May 22, 2025
   One accomplice conviction is overturned

   The High Court of Justice of Galicia acquits Alejandro Míguez for lack of sufficient proof and confirms the three principal murder sentences.

5. December 29, 2025
   Supreme Court confirms final adult outcome

   Spain's Supreme Court confirms the three murder convictions and the fourth defendant's acquittal.