In 2021, the Federal Court of Córdoba declared the accusation against Carina da Silva, the victim's friend, time-barred. She had been accused of manipulating the victim's mobile phone and collaborating in concealing the body.
The defense filed an extraordinary appeal that reached the Supreme Court, where Justices Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti rejected the appeal due to the lack of a final sentence.
The case dates back to October 25, 2009, when Yamila Cuello left her grandmother's house in the Colonel Olmedo neighborhood of Córdoba's capital with the intention of having lunch with friends, but she never made it to the meeting or returned home.
During the initial stages of the investigation, the Justice system considered the possibility of a kidnapping within a human trafficking network.
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation decided to support the continuation of the investigation into the alleged cover-up of Yamila Cuello's murder. The 21-year-old disappeared on October 25, 2009, in the city of Córdoba, and her body was never found.
For the crime, the provincial court had sentenced the victim's ex-boyfriend, Néstor Simone, to 20 years in prison as the perpetrator of the homicide, while her half-brother was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The victim's grandmother, Eulalia Contreras, stated that a paternal aunt of Yamila had been involved in prostitution and had sometimes taken her along. She also recalled that on the day of the disappearance, the young woman had a phone conversation with a male voice, during which she said: "Alright, go ahead, but don't treat me like that; if you do, I won't go at all" and "Don't threaten me, or I won't go at all."
Suspicion fell on Simone, who had a relationship with the victim marked by gender-based violence. Although the accused claimed he no longer had contact with Yamila, phone records showed over 300 communications between them in the month prior to her disappearance.
In August 2023, the III Chamber of the Federal Criminal Cassation Court, by majority, upheld the claim, annulled the ruling, and returned the case to the original court for a new ruling. The decision was confirmed by the Federal Court of Córdoba.
However, the Public Prosecutor's Office questioned the ruling, arguing that the cover-up attributed to the accused constituted a continuing crime, and therefore the criminal action could not be considered time-barred.
