Tijuana Seven people were killed in the latest wave of violence in the region, among them two women, a teen-age boy and a worker with Mexicos Department of Justice. The murders pushed the death toll in the city to at least 30 in the first 18 days of January.
State authorities announced details of the deaths that occurred in Tijuana and Tecate in the last 36 hours.
In the first case, a double homicide occurred near the community of El Hongo, on the free road Tecate to Mexicali. The bodies of two people were found around 8:50 p.m. Sunday besides a vehicle that had been totally burned.
The victims were identified by the state Attorney Generals Office as Estela Guzmán Hernández, 50, and Marcos René Salas Herrera, 13. Both had multiple stab wounds.
The destroyed vehicle was a gray 1998 Hyundai Sonata registered in Baja California that had been reported stolen.
Authorities were looking into the possibility that the motive for the attack was robbery since the vehicle belonging to Guzmán Hernández is missing. It was described as a red 2010 Chevy with Baja California plates 8N4WZU.
Another woman was found dead Sunday at 8:16 p.m. on calle Matamoros in colonia Rancho Escondido in the citys east side.
The victim was identified as María Isabel Vera López (no age given), whose body had several gunshot wounds. Shell casings were recovered from the scene.
Almost parallel to that killing, a man was shot to death while he was driving his car on calle De la Flores in colonia Tona, also on the east side.
He was identified as Bulmaro López Madero, who worked in the federal Attorney
Generals Office as an assistant to witnesses. He was shot at least 44 times.
State authorities did not reveal which case the victim was working on. His death will be investigated by the federal Attorney Generals Office, since he was an employee of that agency.
The body of another man was found around 8:20 a.m. Monday on calle Acueducto in colonia Maclovio Rojas, also on the east side. He was identified as José Rodríguez Mendoza, 55. He had signs of having been beaten.
On Tuesday morning, the body of an unidentified man, age 30 to 35, was found at 7:50
on calle Plaza México, in the Las Plazas neighborhood, also on the east side. Authorities said he appeared to have been strangulated.
Another mans body was found also on Tuesday morning, this time in the Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez Alley in the eastern colonia Nido de la Águilas. He was approximately 35 years old and had stab wounds to the chest.
The recent deaths pushed the death toll in the city to at least 30 in the first 18 days of the year. By comparison, in the same period last year, the total stood at 73.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
