Date set for Baby Miriam trial

JONATHAN MOYA, accused of killing 16-month-old Miriam Cuerda in 2012, stands trial on November 16.

Moya allegedly abducted and killed Miriam at Cortijo Torre Marfil, an isolated property owned by his family between Fiñana and Abrucena.

The Public Prosecutor has recommended a 26-year prison term, maintaining that Moya killed the child, fearing discovery because she would not stop crying and was calling for her mother.

He allegedly hit her repeatedly, wrapped her still-breathing body in plastic film and put it inside a weighted travelling bag which he threw into a water deposit.

Moya met Gema Cuerda, from Palma del Condado (Huelva) online but the relationship did not flourish after they met in person and he was unable to accept Gema’s past.

She broke it off but he asked her to visit him in Almeria, insisting that she brought Miriam with her. Urged by her mother, and against her better judgment, Gema reluctantly agreed to meet him, but once there Moya abducted Miriam and drove off, leaving her stranded near Fiñana.

She raised the alarm and two days later police scouring the area located Moya. He admitted that the baby had died and that he had thrown her body in the water deposit but denied that he had killed her.