Hours before the attack she posted a photo on social media a photo showing herself and her husband with a pair of baby’s shoes along with the message: “The best wedding gift … the approaching life that is a testimony to the sweetest love.”
Colombia’s foreign minister and vice-president, Marta Lucía Ramírez, said authorities were working to clarify “the motives and authors of this heinous crime”.
The Colombian defence minister, Diego Molano, said that a “high command” criminal investigation unit had been sent to Cartagena, and Paraguayan and US officials would help identify and prosecute the perpetrators, according to the police.
The director of Colombia’s national police, Gen Jorge Luis Vargas, said he was unaware Pecci was in Colombia. He said Pecci was one of the most heavily guarded people in Paraguay since he “investigated cases of international terrorism”.
Pecci was investigating several high-profile cases in Paraguay, including a shooting at a concert in January where an alleged drug trafficker and a footballer’s wife were killed.
The Paraguayan president, Mario Abdo Benítez, decried the “cowardly murder” of the prosecutor on Twitter and vowed to redouble his country’s efforts against organised crime.
Paraguay is South America’s largest marijuana producer. Growing the plant is still illegal, with much of the crop smuggled into Argentina and Brazil.