Santiago Martínez has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for trying to kill his ex-wife, Emily Ceco. The pair met on Netflix’s Love Is Blind: Argentina in 2024. They got engaged and married on the show, but Ceco ended the relationship in 2025, claiming that he abused her and gave her a black eye. According to People, he was charged and convicted of attempted murder, repeated assault, and unlawful detention.
“He tried to kill me,” she said in a March 26 interview with Televisión Pública where she recounted him choking her and smothering her with a pillow.
After he was declared guilty, she said, "I instantly burst into tears. My body was shaking. I felt like I had taken a backpack off my shoulders and that I was going to have peace after a long time. I was going to be able to sleep and continue with my life ... and be able to enjoy life like I fought for."
Martínez posted on social media during his trial, denying that he tried to kill his ex. "The first thing I want to say is that I do not justify violence in any way, and I was the first to acknowledge my mistake and to apologize privately, and today I take responsibility for what I did," he said in a post that has been deleted. "But that does not mean I take responsibility for trying to kill the woman I loved.”
Ceco posted on Instagram after his sentencing to thank her loved ones for their support. "There were days of so much fear, of feeling lost, of not knowing how to go on. And there was also something in me that, even in the darkest moments, chose not to give up," she said. "But I wasn't alone. And that's what I feel the strongest today."
She continued, "This doesn't erase the experience. But today I feel like a part of my story was heard. I’m... still healing, more aware, stronger, and deeply grateful. Today my life begins anew."
