american tourist killed in mexico 2022

Rally for Shanquella Robinson, American tourist who died in Mexico, calls for justice

An arrest warrant has been issued for the crime of femicide, prosecutors said.

A rally calling for justice for Shanquella Robinson, the American woman who died while vacationing in Mexico in what local authorities are investigating as a femicide , was held Saturday in her hometown.

Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, died in October while on a trip with six friends to San Jose del Cabo, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

MORE: Mom of Shanquella Robinson who died in Mexico says she didn't believe it was alcohol poisoning

Those who spoke during the event, held at Little Rock AME Zion Church in Charlotte, included family friends and local leaders who said they stood in solidarity with Robinson's family as they grapple with their daughter's death amid the ongoing investigation.

"I'm going to be honest -- this is tough. This is hard," Braxton Winston, Charlotte's mayor pro tem, said in his remarks. "How many words of comfort can you bring to a situation like this?"

"There's so much grief in our community," he said, but told the Robinson family, "I assure you this community will not forget you."

Pat Cotham, the at-large county commissioner for Mecklenburg County, lamented that Robinson's story "was just starting."

"She was just a young woman," Cotham said. "I am so very sorry for the loss of your precious Shanquella."

Family friends remembered Robinson as a charming, strong young woman. A representative for Winston-Salem State University, which Robinson attended, said her "spirit lives on" at the school.

The rally comes several weeks after the funeral service for Robinson.

"There were thousands of people that didn't make it into the services a couple weeks ago, so this is the opportunity to come and show their support with the Robinson family again and to love on them and basically let them know that we stand with them," Mario Black, the founder of Million Youth March of Charlotte, told reporters during a press briefing announcing Saturday's rally. "It's justice for Shanquella Robinson until justice is served."

Questions have mounted amid conflicting reports on what happened in the hours leading up to Robinson's death.

The original autopsy report obtained by ABC News said Robinson died from a severe spinal cord injury and a dislocated neck. According to the document, which was dated Nov. 4, Robinson was found unconscious in the living room of a residence on Padre Kino Avenue in San Jose del Cabo on the afternoon of Oct. 29 and was declared dead within 15 minutes.

That report differs from a recent update from Mexican authorities, who said that Robinson may have been alive and received care from a medical professional for several hours before authorities arrived and she was pronounced dead, ABC News has learned.

The medical professional at the scene allegedly told Robinson's friends that Robinson was drunk and dehydrated, and that they should take her to a hospital. However, they declined to do so, according to authorities.

Authorities have not responded to ABC News' request for comment on the difference between their report and the autopsy.

An arrest warrant was issued last month in Robinson's death for the crime of femicide , a form of gender-based violence, according to a local prosecutor. The warrant was issued for an unnamed alleged perpetrator, "a friend of hers who is the direct aggressor," Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, local prosecutor for the state of Baja California Sur, said.

The FBI opened an investigation last month into Robinson's death, though no further details were released due to the ongoing probe.

MORE: Shanquella Robinson death: Arrest warrant issued for femicide, prosecutor says

Robinson went to the Mexican resort city on Oct. 28, according to her family. Robinson's parents said they got a frantic telephone call from their daughter's friends the next day saying she had died from alcohol poisoning.

The Mexican Secretariat of Health's autopsy report and death certificate do not mention alcohol.

With all the new and developing information, Robinson's family is still seeking answers from her friends.

Sallamondra Robinson, the mother of Shanquella Robinson, told ABC News she's happy the FBI has stepped in to help solve her daughter's case so it "won't go in vain."

None of Robinson's friends who were with her in Cabo have responded to ABC News' repeated requests for comment.

ABC News' Erica Y. King, Anne Laurent and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.

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Mexico wants American extradited on charges in tourist death

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a U.S. woman suspected of killing another American seen being beaten in a viral video.

Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur did not name the suspect in the Oct. 29 death of Shanquella Robinson.

But on Thursday, they said they had approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get the woman extradited to face charges in Mexico.

Robinson’s death at a resort development in San Jose del Cabo shocked people in both countries. The video raised suspicions that Robinson may have died at the hands of people she was traveling with.

Local prosecutor Antonio López Rodríguez said the case was being treated as a potential homicide and an arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect. The group Robinson was traveling with, however, left Mexico after she was found dead in a rented villa.

More on this story

• The mother of Shanquella Robinson, the 25-year-old woman who was found dead in Mexico, said Black social media users are to thank for amplifying her daughter’s case.
• The FBI is investigating death of North Carolina woman in Mexico as family demands answers.
• Video: Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral for Robinson

State prosecutor Daniel de la Rosa Anaya said the suspect was also an American, but did not identify her.

News outlets in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that the people Robinson was traveling with gave differing versions of how she died, but that an autopsy revealed she died of a severe spinal cord or neck injury.

A video apparently taped at the luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman identified as Robinson.

The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying, “Can you at least fight back?” The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

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Shanquella Robinson's Father Says He 'Wants Justice' After American Tourist Is Allegedly Killed by Friend

Mexican authorities say Shanquella Robinson's death was a femicide, a form of gender-based violence

Shanquella Robinson 's family and friends came together in North Carolina over the weekend to rally support and seek justice for the 25-year-old woman who died while vacationing in Mexico in late October.

Robinson, who was staying at the Fundadores Beach Club in San José del Cabo with a group of friends, was later purportedly seen on a leaked video allegedly being viciously attacked in her hotel room by a female friend.

Mexican authorities ruled that Robinson's Oct. 29 death was femicide, a form of gender-based violence. A warrant was issued for Robinson's friend — the alleged attacker — and the local prosecutor said Robinson died as a result of "direct aggression." (The identity of the alleged assailant has yet to be disclosed.)

Saturday's event on behalf of Robinson, which took place at Charlotte's Little Rock AME Zion Church, was put together by the Million Youth March Of Charlotte & Salisbury Teen Advisory Board, drawing hundreds of supporters. Robinson's father Bernard spoke out during the event, saying after he saw his daughter's body in the funeral home, he "stood there crying like a baby."

"I sat there and said, 'Baby, Daddy will get you justice.'"

"All I want is justice," Bernard reportedly said. "I just want the Mexican authorities, the embassy, to do the right thing; make it right. Because they came over there on your soil and did what they did and came back here."

The story of Robinson's death has been beset by confusion. Robinson arrived at the resort city on Oct. 28 with six friends to celebrate a birthday, reports Queen City News . The next day, her mother, Sallamondra Robinson, told QCN, her daughter's friends called to tell her that Shanquella had suddenly passed away.

"They said she wasn't feeling well. She had alcohol poisoning," Sallamondra told QCN at the time. She added, "Each one of the people that was there with her was telling different stories."

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Robinson's death certificate, previously obtained by WSOC-TV , said she died from a severe spinal cord injury and Atlas subluxation complex, a nervous system dysfunction caused by misalignment of the top cervical vertebrae.

Alcohol was not listed on her death certificate, per WSOC-TV, and the possible connection between Robinson's death and the violent fight, which was captured on video, was unclear. The young woman's mother told The Independent that she hasn't heard from any of her daughter's six travel companions since the autopsy report came out.

But, upon hearing an arrest warrant had been issued in the case, Sallamondra told ABC News : "I feel so good, that's a good feeling. That's what we have been waiting for, for someone to finally be held accountable and arrested. I just can't wait for justice to be served."

The FBI has also opened an investigation into Robinson's death, a spokesperson previously told PEOPLE.

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Mexico wants American extradited on charges in tourist death

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a U.S. woman suspected of killing another American seen being beaten in a viral video.

Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur did not name the suspect in the Oct. 29 death of Shanquella Robinson.

But on Thursday, they said they had approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get the woman extradited to face charges in Mexico.

Robinson’s death at a resort development in San Jose del Cabo shocked people in both countries. The video raised suspicions that Robinson may have died at the hands of people she was traveling with.

Local prosecutor Antonio López Rodríguez said the case was being treated as a potential homicide and an arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect. The group Robinson was traveling with, however, left Mexico after she was found dead in a rented villa.

State prosecutor Daniel de la Rosa Anaya said the suspect was also an American, but did not identify her.

News outlets in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that the people Robinson was traveling with gave differing versions of how she died, but that an autopsy revealed she died of a severe spinal cord or neck injury.

A video apparently taped at the luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman identified as Robinson.

The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying, “Can you at least fight back?” The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Mexico investigates death of US tourist seen in viral fight video

Cause of death seemed to be severe spinal cord injury, but officials cannot confirm.

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Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they have opened an investigation into the death of a U.S. woman seen being beaten in a video that has gone viral .

Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur said in a statement they are investigating the death of a woman they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in the town of San Jose del Cabo.

A state official who was not authorized to be quoted by name confirmed the victim was Shanquella Robinson. The official confirmed that the group she had been traveling with had since left Mexico.

A video apparently taped at a luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman.

BAHAMAS SENDS SAMPLES TO US LABS FROM 3 TOURISTS WHO DIED AT SANDALS RESORT

The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying "Can you at least fight back?" The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

Prosecutors said police found Robinson dead at the villa on Oct. 29.

The Charlotte, North Carolina station Queen City News published a report saying Robinson died of a severe spinal cord injury.

In Mexico, a tourist was killed on Oct. 29 who was seen in a viral video being beaten. Prosecutors investigating the death of the woman said she died from a severe spinal cord injury. Pictured: Pharmacies and souvenir shops in the city centre of San Jose del Cabo on the peninsula of Baja California Sur, Mexico. (Marica van der Meer/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Mexican officials said they could not confirm that was the cause of death, because it was part of an ongoing investigation.

The video raised questions about why nobody intervened in the purported beating, or why people she was traveling with would have beaten her.

In another case in a different part of Baja California Sur, prosecutors said they had arrested three men and one woman in the Oct. 25 disappearance of another American , identified as Rodney Davis, 73.

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Davis was last seen near El Juncalito beach in the township of Loreto, well to the north of San Jose del Cabo.

The three suspects face kidnapping charges. Davis's body was found two days later on a nearby highway.

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US tourists beware: Popular Mexico getaway plagued by drug cartel intimidation and violence

TULUM, Mexico — With its turquoise waters, white sand and ancient ruins, this city has become an increasingly popular spot for tourists seeking a getaway along the Caribbean coastline.

Its raves, nightclubs and exclusive resorts and restaurants offer a more tranquil getaway than Cancun, its more well-known neighbor 81 miles to the north.

But the increasing threats of violence pervading Mexico have made their way here, as well as the surrounding state of Quintana Roo. U.S. State Department officials issued a warning Aug. 17 of a heightened risk of violence to Americans traveling there.

While the U.S. government has no restrictions on travel for its employees in Quintana Roo’s tourist sites, such as Cancun, Cozumel and Tulum, it is warning Americans to “exercise increased caution due to crime and kidnapping.”

Tourists are warned to “remain in well-lit pedestrian streets and tourist zones” in the wake of shootings between rival drug cartels that have injured bystanders.

More: US travelers warned of 'kidnapping risk' in some parts of Mexico

In October, two tourists were killed while having dinner in an outdoor restaurant in Tulum. A month later, guests at a resort in Puerto Morelos were forced to hide while gunmen arrived by boat and killed two.

And in January, two Canadian tourists were killed at a luxury hotel in Playa del Carmen the same month the manager of a popular beach club was murdered in a restroom by two men who fled on a jet ski.

The cartels’ influence in the region has risen as “tourism began to grow, and as thousands of tourists started to arrive in this region, a drug dealing market was created for them,” said David Saucedo, a Mexico-based security analyst.

The prevalence of the cartels was readily apparent when journalists working on this story were confronted by cartel members at two popular restaurants in Tulum.

As one of the journalists went to a restroom in the first restaurant, he was approached by armed men who checked his pockets and ID, asking him multiple times what he was doing there and what cartel he worked for before finally letting him leave.

When the journalists went to another place, the same happened again.

They left Tulum the next morning.

Tourists are an easy target for drug cartels, analysts say, particularly if they’ve come to sample the drug scene.

“Many tourists found the possibility to do drugs during vacation,” Saucedo said. “While in other destinations in Mexico, low-priced drugs such as marijuana and cocaine were sold, (and) in the Caribbean, there were hard drugs in the market, so foreign tourists were looking to live this experience not only of tourism but also of consumption.”

More than 160 people have been detained since January on drug-dealing charges, said Tulum Police Chief Oscar Aparicio.

“It’s a quite considerable number; we have raids every day,” he said. “While there is supply or demand, this crime will continue.”

More: A ruthless Mexican drug lord’s empire is devastating families with its grip on small-town USA

Danger in the restrooms

Two Tulum-based business owners who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the cartels said the city’s tourism has blossomed after the worst of the pandemic lifted.

“It became a very fashionable place,” said one.

But with the extra business has come the increasing threat of cartel violence, they said.

“Last year, they (cartels) put a person to sell drugs in the restrooms,” one said. “It’s extortion because you can’t say no to them.”

He described how he was visited by a trio of armed men who told him a man was going to be selling drugs from his restroom for the next three days.

“At that moment, I didn't know what to answer,” he said. “I told them, ‘Yes, I only work here.’”

But going to police isn’t an option, he said, because business owners can’t be sure the authorities aren't working with the cartels, “and you never know what’s going to happen to you.”

Chief Aparicio said police are aware of the drugs being sold in restrooms and have taken steps to try to curtail the trade.

“Unfortunately, many of the tourists who come to Tulum come precisely to get drugs and try things that they haven’t tried in their countries,” he said.

“As long as people come who want to consume, this will continue happening, and we won’t be able to avoid it, even if we have 100,000 police officers at the beach.”

But security analyst Erubiel Tirado said placing the problem on tourists misses the larger issue.

“To blame tourists and say that their actions lead to more crime seems to me to be an irresponsible simplification,” Tirado said. “It’s very easy to blame them when, in most cases, some come just to visit the Tulum ruins.

“They talk about a drug-dealing problem, and the reality is that organized crime wouldn’t exist if there is no complicity at all the levels of government.”

Marijuana wars: Violent Mexican drug cartels turn Northern California into ‘The Wild West’

Cartel hawks are always on the lookout

Aparicio acknowledged the omnipresence of cartel hawks or halcones who are constantly watching areas — whether it be the juice vendor or the waiter of a restaurant — to collect information and keep drug dealers from getting caught.

“The National Guard is patrolling all the time, but these people have hawks everywhere that immediately inform their dealers, so they hide or stop selling,” Tulum’s police chief said.

But Aparicio disputed the contention that cartels were extorting businesses, saying “it has been eradicated.”

“There are indeed drug cartels operating, local cartels that have been around for a long time, but we have not allowed access to other cartels into Tulum,” he said.

David Ortiz-Mena, president of the Tulum Hotel Association, agreed with the police chief’s assessment, saying there is no extortion at hotels.

“If there has been an attempt ― kidnapping, extortion in hotels ― these have been resolved adequately by state response,” he said.

But the two anonymous restaurant owners in Tulum said it would be naïve to underestimate the cartels’ influence in the area. That became clear after they were so openly approached by a cartel member.

“I began to understand that the reality is that this is normal,” he said. “Even though I was shocked at first, and suddenly I was a little bit paranoid, the truth is that it becomes business as usual.”

Before you travel

Get travel advisories broken down by cities and states on the U.S. State Department’s website .

State Department officials encourage Americans to “take 90 seconds for safer travel,” by enrolling in STEP, Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which sends updates on travel alerts and allows U.S. officials to more easily aid travelers in an emergency.

clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

3 Americans dead in Mexico Airbnb from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning

Three Americans on vacation in Mexico City were found dead at an Airbnb-listed property that they had rented, according to the U.S. State Department and the property rental platform.

Two men and a woman died due to carbon monoxide poisoning at the property, Mexican police said, according to the Associated Press . They were found unresponsive on Oct. 30 at an apartment in the upscale Cuajimalpa district, according to the Spanish newspaper El País. The State Department did not release details on the deceased or their cause of death, though it said that U.S. officials were providing appropriate consular assistance.

Mexico City prosecutors did not return a request for comment sent late Wednesday. The families of the deceased couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, Airbnb described the incident as a tragedy. The company said it had suspended bookings at the property where the deaths occurred. “Our priority right now is supporting those impacted as the authorities investigate what happened, and we stand ready to assist with their inquiries,” it added.

The trio went to Mexico to participate in the festivities marking the Day of the Dead , or Día de los Muertos. The holiday — which ran Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 — has its origins in ancient Aztec Indigenous traditions and commemorates death as an essential element of life.

The woman involved had told her boyfriend before her death that she felt like she had been drugged, according to El País, which viewed messages between the couple. “Like I’ve taken ecstasy, but I haven’t,” she reportedly wrote. She was also reportedly vomiting and said she was feeling fatigued.

Tourist drug demand is bringing cartel violence to Mexico’s most popular resorts

Around the time the three U.S. nationals died, three American siblings vacationing in Mexico also suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a GoFundMe webpage set up by a family friend and local media reports. One of them died. The other two were hospitalized.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas that kills people by slowly depleting them of oxygen. When people breathe in the gas, it prevents red blood cells from carrying sufficient oxygen to critical organs such as the brain and heart. Initial symptoms may include dizziness and vomiting. More than 430 people are accidentally killed by the gas each year in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC advises Americans to install a carbon monoxide detector in their homes, and to check the batteries every six months. The gas can be found in fumes produced by furnaces, stoves, lanterns and gas ranges, or in areas near burning charcoal and wood. Infants, the elderly and people with chronic heart disease, anemia, or breathing problems are most at risk, according to the public health body .

Robyn Huang and Bryan Pietsch contributed to this report.

Watch CBS News

Gunmen on jet skis open fire at rival drug dealer on Cancun beach, killing 12-year-old boy on lounge chair

Updated on: July 29, 2024 / 3:44 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A 12-year-old boy was killed after gunmen on jet skis opened fire at a beach in Cancun, authorities said, marking another incident of deadly violence at a Mexican  resort in recent years.

Mexican prosecutors said in a statement late Sunday that the gunmen were targeting a rival drug dealer on the beach and fled after the barrage of bullets. Apparently, they were engaged in a dispute over drug sales.

The boy, a local resident, was apparently lying on a lounge chair on the beach with his family when he was hit by stray bullets. The boy was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

"It is so sad that things like these happen," the person close to the victim's family told Mexican newspaper El Universal .

According to the newspaper, the shooting happened on Playa Caracol near the Riu Cancun hotel. A hotel spokesperson told El Universal the victim was not staying at the hotel and that no guests were injured in the shooting.

Territorial disputes between drug dealers  have cost the lives of several tourists  in the resorts along Mexico's Caribbean coast in recent years. In May, 10 bodies were found scattered in the country's once-glamorous resort city of Acapulco, which has been engulfed by violence linked to  cartels , local security officials said.

In February, three people were shot dead by gunmen – one who arrived and fled aboard a boat – in Acapulco.

In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.

In 2021, further south in Tulum, two tourists — one a California travel blogger born in India and a German national — were killed when they apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.

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Paradise lost: these tourists had tragic caribbean, mexico vacations.

Tourists on tropical vacations have been plagued by trouble in paradise in recent years — including mysterious poisonings, unsolved disappearances and one couple’s tragic honeymoon murder.

Last week, American tourists Robbie Phillips, 65, Michael Phillips, 68 , and Vincent Chiarella, 64, became the latest to have their dream trips turn into nightmares, when they suddenly fell ill and died mysteriously at the swanky Sandals Emerald Bay resort in the Bahamas.

The case reignited fear surrounding strange and violent deaths at vacation hotspots in the Caribbean and Mexico. 

Here are some examples of where paradise was lost:

Sativa Transue. Cancún, Mexico. November, 2021.

The 26-year-old Washington state woman planned to spend Thanksgiving relaxing in the sun with her boyfriend,  Taylor Allen.

But the day after arriving, she was reportedly found “beaten to a bloody pulp”  in a room at the $200-a-night All Ritmo Resort.

Allen was quickly arrested by Mexican authorities and charged with killing her.

Elijah Snow. Cancun,  Mexico. July 2021.

The 35 -year-old Texas firefighter was celebrating a wedding anniversary with his wife, Jamie, when he disappeared just hours after checking into the Royalton Chic Cancún Resort & Spa.

His body was found the next morning, stuffed into a small window on an isolated strip of the Sunset Royal Beach.

Despite multiple bruises and a gash on his head, Mexican officials ruled his death an accident.

Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day. Dominican Republic. June 2019

The bodies of Day, 50, and her fiancé Holmes, 63, were found in their room at the Bahia Principe hotel at the Playa Nueva Romana resort.

They reportedly suffered respiratory failure amid a string of tourists deaths on the island in the summer of 2019.

Vittorio Caruso,  Dominican Republic. June, 2019

The 56-year-old Long Island pizzeria owner mysteriously died while staying at the Boca Chica Resort in Santo Domingo after “drinking something,” according to his sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso.

He was the 10th American to die in the Dominican Republic during the time period. Authorities in the country later said he suffered from respiratory and heart failure.

Jerry Curran. Dominican Republic, January, 2019.

The 78-year-old former police officer from Bedford, Ohio, fell ill after having dinner and drinks with his wife, Janet, at the Dreams Resort in Punta Cana.

He was rushed to a hospital after he began vomiting and became unresponsive.

His official cause of death was pulmonary edema, cerebral hypoxia and severe encephalitic cranial trauma.

David Harrison. Dominican Republic, July 2018.

The 45-year-old Maryland man died suspiciously while celebrating a wedding anniversary at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana.

Harrison reportedly woke up struggling to breath and covered in sweat, according to his wife, Dawn McCoy.

McCoy later said staff at the hotel tried to pressure her into having his body cremated before returning to the US.  Methanol poisoning, linked to bootleg liquor, was eyed as the cause of his death.

Robert Bell Wallace. Dominican Republic, 2018.

The 67-year-old California man died after drinking from the minibar in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana.

His family called his death into question after learning that three other Americans had died suddenly within five days of each other at another all-inclusive resort on the island in May 2019.

Antonio Reyes. Dominican Republic. August, 2017.

The Wake County, North Carolina man died suddenly during his stay at the Bahia Principe resort in Punta Cana.

His death was ruled a heart attack. But his daughter, Jenaye Davenport, later called into question the circumstances, saying, “It was just strange because he was in perfect health.”

The Esmond Family. St. John, US Virgin Islands. March, 2015.

Delaware school administrator Steve Esmond and his two sons, Ryan and Sean, were seriously sickened by pesticides and left unconscious in their luxury villa in the US Virgin Island of St. John.

Steve Esmond was left paralyzed and unable to speak more than a year later, and the boys were left unconscious for more than a month.

The pest control firm Terminix agreed to pay the family $87 million because the poison sprayed by their workers has been banned.

Monica Beresford-Redman. Cancún, Mexico. April 2010.

The 41-year-old wife of former “Survivor” producer Bruce Beresford-Redman was beaten and strangled to death while vacationing with her family at the posh Moon Palace resort.

The couple had taken the trip with the goal of working on their marriage — but her naked body was found dumped naked into a sewage tank at the hotel.

In 2015, her husband was convicted of her murder in Mexico.

Ben and Catherine Mullany. Antigua, 2008.

The 31-year-old couple from Pontardawe, Wales, were both fatally shot in the back of their heads at a luxurious beachside hotel room while on their honeymoon.

The assailant robbed them of a digital camera, cash and mobile phone before fleeing.

 Catherine, a doctor, died instantly and Ben, a former police officer, died a week later. In July 2011, Kaniel Martin and Avie Howell were sentenced to life in prison for their murders.

Natalee Holloway. Aruba, May 2005

The Alabama teen went missing while on a high school graduation trip with friends in a disappearance that captivated the country for years.

Despite a slew of theories and even reported “sightings,”  the case remains unsolved, and her body was never found.

A man who has been linked to her killing, Joran van der Sloot, is now serving a 28-year behind bars in Peru for the slaying of another young woman.

Robbie and Michael Phillips, and Vincent Chiarella. Exuma, Bahamas. May 2022.

The Phillips, who hail from Tennessee, were discovered dead in a villa at the luxury Sandals Emerald Bay resort after seeking medical treatment for feeling sick.

Vincent Chiarella, 64, of Florida also died under mysterious circumstances in a separate nearby villa at the hotel the same night. His wife was left seriously ill and hospitalized.

The cause has not yet been determined. Police said blood samples have been taken from all the victims and sent to a lab in Philadelphia for toxicology tests.

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Police find the bodies of 4 men, including a policeman, shot to death near resort outside Cancun

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Police on Mexico’s Caribbean coast said Friday they have found the bodies of four men, including a policeman, shot to death near a resort just south of Cancun.

The victims all had apparently been shot in the head and were found dumped near the highway leading out of Cancun, said Luis Rodríguez Bucio, the assistant head of Mexico’s Public Safety Department.

A former Cancun police officer was found at the scene going through the pockets of one of the bodies, and said the dead man was a friend. He was detained by officers, police said.

The four victims included a Cancun police officer who had been accused of accepting bribes to protect brothels, but who had been kept on the force anyway. He was on medical leave at the time of his death.

Authorities said the bodies were found Thursday, and said the victims may have been involved in providing protection for migrant smugglers. Bucio said the killings might also be related to a raid on a property in Cancun earlier this year in which guns and drugs were seized.

Drug cartels in Mexico constantly kill rivals to protect their territories or businesses. Officials said Friday that over two-thirds of the 88 murders that took place Thursday nationwide in Mexico were believed to be related to drug cartels.

The Caribbean coast, and especially Cancun, is often used by smugglers to illegally move migrants through Mexico, in part because the resort has good airline connections and there are so many foreigners that migrants can be moved around without drawing as much attention.

Drug cartels in Mexico have increasingly become involved in migrant smuggling in recent years. The cartels also fight for control of the drug trade in the resorts along the coast.

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North Texas immigration lawyer killed in Mexico in July

Julio paredes, father and arlington resident, was killed last month while visiting his hometown in durango, mexico..

3:40 PM on Aug 8, 2024 CDT

An immigration lawyer from Arlington, known for his commitment to his community and vulnerable individuals in need, died last month in his hometown in Mexico.

Originally from Durango, Mexico, Julio Paredes, 50, was a man of passion for justice and advocacy, his friends and family say.

Paredes died July 27 after attending a fair in Durango, Mexico, according to Maria Aguilar, a community organizer who worked with Paredes in North Texas.

The incident happened during a fight in the parking lot of the fair where he was allegedly run over by Jahaziel Adonay, according to El Sol de Durango, a local media outlet. Adonay was arrested by local police, according to El Sol.

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Paredes died from complications from the hit in a local hospital, according to Aguilar.

By instructions of the state governor of Durango, the family is receiving support and an investigation is underway by local Mexican authorities. The case is being investigated as a homicide.

He devoted his career to providing transparent, impactful, and tailored services in the fields of personal injury law, immigration, wills, and beyond, according to his website.

Paredes was a husband and father of five.

“My dad knew the value of education. It’s something that he always instilled in us,” said Salma Paredes, daughter of Julio Paredes, in a Facebook post where she created a hashtag movement with #justiciaparajulio, which means justice for Julio. “I thought I would lose my dad to old age. I thought I would take care of him as an old man with gray hair.”

Related: Family, teammates mourn Carter football player murdered in east Oak Cliff

His life was cut short, sending shockwaves through the lives of those who knew and loved him.

“Julio assisted me on many projects, while we both started our firms... this is tough,” said Billy Clark, a law school classmate, in a Facebook post.

“When I started law school, I was struck by the amazing amount of dedicated, smart and caring people that were in my class. One of them was Julio Paredes,” said Laura Strain, a law school classmate, in a Facebook post.

Facebook posts moved the Mexican community to action, including notable figures like Emma Coronel, the wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, a former drug lord within the Sinaloa Cartel. She shared posts on her Instagram account, amplifying the tag #justiciaparajulio.

The social media movement started by Paredes’ oldest daughter with the hashtag #justiciaparajulio has garnered thousands of comments and reactions across social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram andTikTok.

Related: After a murder-suicide in Lake Highlands, a sister mourns what could’ve been

After moving to Texas, Paredes earned his accounting degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, which he leveraged to establish his own tax business in North Texas. He later obtained his law degree from the University of North Texas, allowing him to launch a legal practice where he represented and advocated for immigrant families.

“Now I’m left with the fear that justice won’t be served,” Salma said in a Facebook post. “I cannot imagine my life without him. Please, if you knew my dad, please let people know how great of a man he was.”

Maria Salette Ontiveros , Trending Reporter . Maria Salette Ontiveros has worked in the TV industry with KFOX and CBS in El Paso, Texas area.

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Mexican Reporter Gunned Down, Even With a Security Detail at His Side

Alejandro Martínez had received so many threats that the Mexican government appointed him protection. On Sunday, he was shot and killed and his bodyguards wounded.

By Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

Reporting from Mexico City

Alejandro Martínez was no stranger to covering the kind of news that took him to crime scenes and fatal accidents across Celaya, a city in central Mexico that has become a cauldron of violence as murder cases pile up.

His job was so dangerous that he had his own government-appointed security detail, which usually drove him to his reporting locations. But even the police officers assigned to protect him were not enough to stop unknown gunmen from killing Mr. Martínez, 57, on Sunday.

Shortly after wrapping up a Facebook livestream covering a traffic accident on a highway near the city, Mr. Martínez was shot in the police vehicle that was taking him back to Celaya by assailants who approached in another car. The two transit police officers in the vehicle were also wounded.

“Well, friends, I’m leaving now,” he had told his viewers just minutes earlier on what would be his last livestream . “I really thank you for your attention and for putting up with the nonsense I say.”

Celaya’s security ministry said in a statement that the two police officers immediately took Mr. Martínez to a hospital, but he died shortly after. At least three bullet holes were visible on the vehicle, according to local media.

A team of forensic experts and prosecutors was assigned to investigate his murder and find the killers, said the attorney general’s office in Guanajuato, the state where Celaya is. It is yet unclear whether Mr. Martínez was the intended target of the attack or if the gunmen were after the police officers with him.

Mr. Martínez — whom some mourning residents called “the voice of Celaya” for his work covering community news and crime — survived an assassination attempt in 2022, after which he requested protection from the federal and state governments. He no longer went to work without his security detail, and he stopped covering shootings.

The city of Celaya was once a prosperous and peaceful hub in Guanajuato state, with major national highways and railways connecting it to the United States. A vibrant auto industry drew families to live amid its beautiful colonial architecture.

But in the past few years, the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel has been in a dangerous turf war with the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel for control in the state, resulting in a spike in disappearances and homicides where almost everyone, from aspiring politicians to vendors suffering extortion to relatives searching for their loved ones , has been attacked.

At least 98 police officers have been killed across Guanajuato since the start of 2023 — 41 of them in Celaya alone, according to data compiled by the Mexican organization Common Cause.

Reporters have also been the victims of this violence. In June, the body of Víctor Manuel Jiménez Campos, another journalist from Celaya, who went missing in 2020 after covering a baseball game, was found in a water well along with the remains of other people.

“We are still living in a spiral of violence that has not stopped, that has trapped us for many years,” said Balbina Flores, Mexico’s representative to the international organization Reporters Without Borders. “The big question that it leaves us with is, who protects us? Who protects journalists?”

Mexico stands out as the most dangerous country in the Americas for reporters, and one of the most dangerous across the world — surpassed only by active war zones. A total of 166 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000 in relation to their work, according to the press freedom organization Article 19.

Of these, 47 have been slain during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who on his first day in office vowed no more journalists would be killed in Mexico.

The killings, however, have not stopped. “It’s easy to promise something that you’re not going to deliver,” said Ms. Flores. Instead, Mr. López Obrador has mostly focused on minimizing the killings, attacking the press for their critical reporting and accusing his opponents of using the threat against journalists in Mexico to hurt his administration.

“It seems that the murders of journalists — because that is the idea that they have planted — have only occurred during this government,” Mr. López Obrador said in a news conference in March.

Mr. Martínez was not the first reporter to be killed after receiving protection from the government, according to Ms. Flores, who said her organization has documented at least 10 such cases — five of them during the López Obrador administration.

Sunday’s killing once again sends a “bleak message” to other journalists across the country, she added.

More than 650 journalists were receiving protection from the Mexican government in November of last year, according to Amnesty International — though the number of rejected requests has increased over the years.

“There is no comprehensive policy that considers reviewing the protection and prevention measures given to journalists in high-risk areas, such as Guanajuato,” said Ms. Flores.

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office in October, signed a letter during her campaign promising to revise Mexico’s protection policies for journalists, prioritize the search for missing reporters and permanently monitor security threats to prevent violence against the press.

In a 2021 interview, a reporter asked Mr. Martínez if he had gotten used to violence in Celaya. “No,” he said. “It hurts me to see Celaya like this. It hurts me to see everything that is happening. It hurts me to see dead people.”

He then took a second to breathe and wipe the tears from his face. “All of this hurts me,” he said.

Miguel García Lemus contributed reporting from Celaya, Mexico.

Emiliano Rodríguez Mega is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Mexico City, covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. More about Emiliano Rodríguez Mega