A couple originally from Fresno, California, and their three children were murdered at their home in Tijuana, in the state of Baja California, one of the most violent border cities in Mexico and where at least 27 have been registered at the beginning of the month alone. homicides.
Gerardo
Valadez, 35 years old;
his wife, Jazmen Hernández;
and their children Sophia, 4;
Andrew, 9;
and Anamarie, 8 (children of the woman's first marriage) died on Friday, December 3, shot by armed men.
Hernández and the three children were US citizens, originally from Fresno, California.
Valadez had also resided in the country,
but had moved to Tijuana after he was deported a few years ago
, some of his friends in Mexico confirmed to Noticias Telemundo.
The local media Punto Norte reported that his wife visited him every weekend with the children, since they could not continue living together in the United States, as often happens to many families that are separated by deportations.
Mexican police and soldiers attend the scene of a multiple murder in Tijuana, Baja California, on December 3, 2021. Telemundo 20
Around eight o'clock on Friday afternoon (local time), a group of armed people entered Valadez's house on Privada de la Luna street, in the Nueva Aurora neighborhood, and fired at everyone without leaving anyone alive. .
It is one of several violent incidents that have occurred recently in Nueva Aurora, where criminals have even clashed with the police.
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The television was still on and the children's toys were scattered around the house,
with the number 7014, when the police responded to a report from a concerned neighbor that they had heard gunshots, according to Punto Norte.
The central prosecutor of the State Attorney General's Office, Hiram Sánchez Zamora, said that they had all been killed with the same weapon, a .223-caliber assault rifle, which as far as is known had not been used in another crime.
Sánchez said that he is collaborating with the United States authorities;
the FBI reported that it is investigating the case.
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According to Sánchez,
one of the hypotheses of the Prosecutor's Office is that the murderers knew the victims
, because the locks of the house had not been forced, although he did not explain if it was possible that the entrance was open from the beginning.
They have not indicated the possible motives of the attackers.
"The suspects, the murders and the whole thing, honestly, is what worries me the least, and it's not where my mind is. I don't want revenge or anything. I want my family home and rest in peace. It's my duty as father, "Andrew and Anamarie's father said in an interview with News Nation.
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Valadez's family opened a GoFundMe page to raise funds to repatriate the bodies of the entire family to Fresno.
"We are hurt that this happened to our family. We just want to bring them home and give them the burial they deserve," Mario, who identified himself as one of Valadez's brothers, wrote on the aforementioned website.
