A control judge ordered the release of Aurora Rose—a 22-year-old American national—who had been detained on April 28 after fatally stabbing her boyfriend in an apartment in the Colonia Calete neighborhood of Tijuana.
The judicial ruling was based on the application of a gender perspective and the recognition of self-defense, within the framework of current regulations in Baja California.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Monday, April 27, at the Adamant building, located in Tijuana’s city center (Zona Centro). At approximately 5:40 p.m., authorities responded to the premises following a report of threats. However, their intervention was delayed for several minutes due to access restrictions imposed by the building’s management.
Once inside, Municipal Police officers and Red Cross paramedics discovered 30-year-old Brayan Alexander Roldán Espino suffering from stab wounds to his neck and shoulder. Despite resuscitation efforts, the victim died at the scene.
During the hearing, Aurora Rose’s defense team argued before Judge Jorge Alberto Aranda Díaz that the young woman had acted to safeguard her physical safety. According to the testimony, the couple was under the influence of alcohol and drugs when a physical altercation broke out. The defense argued that the use of the bladed weapon was a response to the violent aggression the woman was being subjected to. This ruling is grounded in the so-called “Alina Law”—an amendment to the State Penal Code approved by the Baja California Congress in August 2023. This legislation, prompted by the case of former officer Alina Narcizo, stipulates that authorities must take self-defense into consideration when a woman injures or kills an aggressor within the context of gender-based violence, thereby acknowledging the altered psychological and emotional state resulting from the imminent threat to her life.
With this resolution, the case of Aurora Rose joins the body of legal precedents within the state that recognize the vulnerability of domestic violence victims, enabling the justice system to analyze acts of self-defense from a perspective that extends beyond the strict literal interpretation of the traditional crime of homicide.
