Current:Home > ScamsPhotographer found shot to death in violence plagued Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez -FundPrime
Photographer found shot to death in violence plagued Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez
View
Date:2025-04-12 02:22:51
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A photographer for a newspaper in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, which has been dominated by drug cartels, was found shot to death, prosecutors said Thursday.
The body of news photographer Ismael Villagómez was found in the driver’s seat of a car just after midnight Thursday in Ciudad Juarez, a violence-plagued city across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Villagómez’s newspaper, the Heraldo de Juarez, said he was found dead in a car that he had registered to use for work for a ride-hailing app. Given low salaries, it is not uncommon for journalists in Mexico to hold down more than one job. The newspaper said his phone was not found at the scene.
Ciudad Juarez has been dominated by drug cartels and their turf battles for almost two decades, and gangs often object to photos of their victims or their activities being published.
Carlos Manuel Salas, a prosecutor for the northern border state of Chihuahua, said authorities are investigating whether Villagómez had a fare at the time, or whether the killing was related to his work as a photographer.
The Committee to Protect Journalists made an urgent call for authorities to investigate the killing.
His death was the fifth instance of a journalist being killed in Mexico so far in 2023.
In September, Jesús Gutiérrez, a journalist who ran a community Facebook news page, was killed in the northern Mexico border town of San Luis Rio Colorado when he was apparently caught in the cross-fire of an attack aimed at police.
Prosecutors in the northern border state of Sonora said Gutiérrez was talking with the police officers, who were his neighbors, when they were hit by a hail of gunfire, killing one policeman and wounding the other three. They said Gutiérrez’ death was “collateral” to the attack on the police.
At least three other journalists have been killed so far this year in Mexico, which has become one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists outside a war zone.
In the past five years alone, the Committee to Protect Journalists documented the killings of at least 52 journalists in Mexico.
Last year was the deadliest in recent memory for Mexican journalists, with 15 killed. That year, Mexico was one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists, second only to Ukraine.
veryGood! (91765)
Related
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Appeals court revives lawsuit in fight between 2 tribes over Alabama casino
- MLB spring training facilities spared extensive damage from Hurricane Milton
- Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds donate $1 million to Hurricane Milton, Helene relief fund
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Ohio State-Oregon, Oklahoma-Texas lead college football's Week 7 games to watch
- Oregon's Traeshon Holden ejected for spitting in Ohio State player's face
- 'It's relief, it's redemption': Dodgers knock out rival Padres in NLDS with total team effort
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Experts warn ‘crazy busy’ Atlantic hurricane season is far from over
Ranking
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Christina Hall's Ex Josh Hall Trying to Block Sale of $4.5 Million Home
- Ex-US Army soldier asks for maximum 40 years in prison but gets a 14-year term for IS plot
- A Year After Historic Civil Rights Settlement, Alabama Slowly Bringing Sanitation Equity to Rural Black Communities
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Lawsuit in US targets former Salvadoran colonel in 1982 killings of Dutch journalists
- Ultimate Guide to Cute and Affordable Athleisure: 14 Finds Under $60
- Appeals court overturns contempt finding, removes judge in Texas foster care lawsuit
Recommendation
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Documents show OpenAI’s long journey from nonprofit to $157B valued company
Why Hurricanes Are Much—Much—Deadlier Than Official Death Counts Suggest
When is Tigers-Guardians Game 5 of American League Division Series?
Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
Hot-air balloon strikes and collapses radio tower in Albuquerque during festival
Woman pleads guilty to trying to smuggle 29 turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak
A hiker dies in a fall at Arches National Park in Utah