Kenneth Darlington is Sentenced to 48 Years in Prison

Kenneth Darlington is sentenced to 48 years in prison.  The Attorney General’s Office reported on the morning of Tuesday, June 11, that the Homicide and Femicide Section of Panama Oeste obtained a 48-year prison sentence for Kenneth Darlington, for the crimes of aggravated intentional homicide of two people. Dalington was also convicted of illegal possession of a firearm in the incident that occurred on November 7, 2023, in Chame, during protests over the contract between the mining company and the Panamanian State. 

The deceased were Abdiel Díaz and Iván Mendoza, an educator and the husband of an educator, respectively.  One of the victims died at the scene near the entrance to Chame and the other in the hospital. Darlington, 77 years old and born in Colón, shot at a group of protesters who were keeping the Pan-American Highway closed in protest against the contract signed between the Panamanian state and the mining company. The murderer escaped from the crime scene after shooting at the group, which included teachers and their relatives. In addition, there were journalists who managed to record the moment he shot the group.  Darlington was a professor at Florida State University and speaks four languages ​​and had lived in three countries: Romania, Spain and Panama. He was a cultured man, a pianist and of American descent.  He had been prosecuted for illegally carrying firearms; however, he was acquitted through an appeal.