Who was Sharon?
Edith Bermeo Cisneros was known nationally by her stage name Sharon la Hechicera. She worked as a singer, actress and television personality and had a broad public following in Ecuador. Her death therefore received intense national attention, but this archive separates the public profile of the victim from the criminal findings established in court.
The death on the Ruta del Spondylus
Bermeo died in the early hours of January 4, 2015, near the commune of San Pablo in Santa Elena Province. Ecuador's Prosecutor General later described evidence that she had been assaulted before being thrown from the vehicle in which she had been travelling with López. A passing vehicle then became part of the physical sequence surrounding her death.
The official prosecution account also recorded earlier violence within the relationship and relied on reconstruction work, forensic findings, emergency-call material and witness testimony. Crime by Region does not add details beyond what the prosecution and courts publicly documented.
The first trial and changing legal classification
The case did not move in a straight line. In June 2015, a tribunal convicted López of culpable homicide and imposed a reduced two-year prison term. Prosecutors publicly announced that they would appeal, arguing that the evidence supported a femicide case rather than a negligent-homicide outcome.
That initial ruling is important context because later proceedings produced a very different result. This page therefore does not present the 26-year femicide conviction as if it had been the only judicial outcome ever issued in the case.
The femicide conviction
After a later trial held in October 2015, the First Criminal Guarantees Tribunal of Santa Elena found López guilty of femicide. On October 29, the tribunal imposed 26 years of imprisonment. Ecuador's Prosecutor General said the case was prosecuted under Article 141 of the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code, which criminalizes femicide.
The prosecution reported that its case included police reports, reconstruction evidence, video and audio material, testimony from dozens of witnesses and forensic evidence. The tribunal also ordered financial reparation for Bermeo's relatives.
Appeal and final reported provincial result
The sentence was appealed. On January 7, 2016, the Criminal Chamber of the Santa Elena Provincial Court upheld the 26-year prison sentence. The appellate judges declined requests to change the punishment and left the femicide conviction in place.
Later reporting continued to identify López as serving a 26-year sentence for Bermeo's femicide. That is the adjudicated status used by this archive. Claims made by the defense about the fairness of the proceedings are part of the legal controversy, but they are not presented here as findings overturning the conviction.
Why the case matters
Bermeo's case became nationally significant not only because of her public profile but also because the proceedings unfolded during the early years of Ecuador's specific femicide offense. The case illustrates why precise legal chronology matters: an early negligent-homicide judgment and a later femicide conviction cannot be collapsed into a single simplified narrative.
The victim is treated here as a real person rather than a true-crime character. Graphic descriptions are omitted unless essential to understanding the legal evidence.
Frequently asked questions
What was Sharon's real name?
Her name was Edith Bermeo Cisneros. She was widely known by the stage name Sharon la Hechicera.
Who was convicted?
Geovanny López, Bermeo's partner, was convicted of femicide in October 2015.
What sentence was imposed?
The femicide conviction carried a 26-year prison sentence.
Was that sentence upheld?
Yes. The Santa Elena Provincial Court upheld the 26-year sentence on January 7, 2016.