Sept. 15 (UPI) — An El Salvador court issued the country’s first life sentence for aggravated femicide, following a legal reform that introduced such penalties. The Attorney General’s Office said the sentence stemmed from a killing in August.

The man was convicted of fatally stabbing a neighbor whom he had repeatedly harassed, according to prosecutors. The sentence was handed down Monday, just 42 days after the crime.

“Just 42 days after the crime, the Attorney General’s Office secured the first life sentence for aggravated femicide,” the office said in a post on X.

Eduardo Mauricio Urbina García became the second person sentenced to life in prison in El Salvador under constitutional and criminal reforms backed by President Nayib Bukele’s government that took effect in April 2026. Three days earlier, the country’s first life sentence was handed down to a man convicted of murder.

The Criminal Court of Santa Ana imposed the sentence after Urbina García entered an expedited proceeding and was found guilty of killing 32-year-old Jazmín Ramírez.

Ramírez was killed Aug. 3 while she was in her apartment. Urbina García, her neighbor, entered the residence and fatally stabbed her, local newspaper La Prensa Gráfica reported.

El Salvador’s Congress approved life imprisonment earlier this year for people convicted of murder, rape and terrorism. Previously, the maximum sentence was 60 years in prison, with mechanisms allowing for sentence reductions.

In April, Bukele pushed for and signed an extension of life imprisonment to minors as young as 12 who commit murder or rape or participate in acts of terrorism. The change is part of the security policies promoted by his government.