Maricela Tombé, mother of two young children spent much of her life in community work in the community of Playa Rica, a town located to the west of El Tambo. She served as secretary of the Community Action Board of Brisas and later served as president of the Asociación Campesina Ambiental de Playa Rica (Ascap) in El Tambo from 2011 — 2014. Recently, due to ill health she had taken a break from her community work to undergo medical treatment.

At 09.30 on the night of Sunday 31 January 2016, Maricela was shot dead by an unknown gunman in the center of the village as she was leaving a shop.

There had been a recent escalation of tension in the area due to the presence of paramilitary groups and the sudden appearance of leaflets signed by the paramilitaries announcing a campaign of so called “social cleansing”.