Activist "Rubi's Mom" killed in Chihuahua City

By Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times

A mother on a quest to find her daughter's killer was fatally shot last Thursday night in front of the state capitol in Chihuahua City.

Better known simply as "Rubi's mom," Maricela Escobedo was an activist and self-made investigator seeking to bring to justice the person who killed her daughter, Rubi Marisol Freyre Escobedo, in Juarez in 2008.

State prosecutor Jorge Gonzalez Nicolas late Thursday confirmed the homicide of Escobedo, who was shot while collecting signatures in front of the state capitol.

A closed-circuit camera captured the 20 seconds or so at 8:10 p.m. when a man got out of a white Volkswagen Jetta and approached Escobedo in the square. Frightened by him, Escobedo ran across the street, dodging busy traffic, the assailant only footsteps behind her. He shot her with a 9mm pistol in the head at the entrance to the governor's palace.

The video shows the killer running back across the street and getting in the waiting car, which pulled away.

The brazen hit of a grieving mother — in the capital of a state renowned for hundreds of murders of women and girls — sparked condemnation from within Mexico and from abroad.

Escobedo had been on a quest to bring her daughter's killer to justice after a state tribunal cleared a man arrested in Rubi Freyre's death.

"She had given us important information she had found herself about the tragic death of her daughter," Gonzalez said. "She provided important information to prosecutors and federal police from the investigations she was doing and that were being supported by prosecutors."

Woman activist slain in Chihuahua: Quest to find daughter's killer drove self-made investigator

by Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times

Marisela Escobedo Ortiz wore makeup depicting tears during one of her protests. She is holding a wanted poster for the man suspected in killing her daughter.

A mother on a quest to find her daughter's killer was fatally shot Thursday night in front of the state capitol in Chihuahua City.

Better known simply as "Rubi's mom," Marisela Escobedo was an activist and self-made investigator seeking to bring to justice the person who killed her daughter, Rubi Marisol Freyre Escobedo, in Juárez in 2008.

State prosecutor Jorge Gonzalez Nicolas late Thursday confirmed the slaying of Escobedo, who was shot while collecting signatures in front of the state capitol.

Gonzalez said security cameras filmed the attack and there were also four witnesses. Gonzalez said Escobedo exchanged words with a man, who then pulled out a handgun. She was shot in the head while trying to run to safety.

A video of the shooting shows a man getting out of a white car and then approaching Escobedo. It shows the woman running for her life, and when the man shoots her, she falls on a sidewalk. The shooter then climbs into the white car and leaves.

The prosecutor said investigators were following several leads and had several clues, including a 9mm bullet casing found next to a cigarette butt the shooter had in his mouth moments earlier.

Escobedo had been trying to bring her daughter's killer to justice after a state tribunal cleared a man arrested in Rubi Freyre's death.

"She had given us important information she had found herself about the tragic death of her daughter," Gonzalez said. "She provided important information to prosecutors and federal police from the investigations she was doing and that were being supported by prosecutors."
Chihuahua human-rights officials told television reporters Friday that they were going to look into the shooting death of Marisela Escobedo.

Wednesday march in Juárez to honor slain activist

Activists calling for justice in the murder of Marisela Escobedo Ortiz will conduct a march Wednesday in Juárez.
A group led by veteran activist Judith Galarza announced the event and invited the public to participate.

Escobedo's public murder in front of the governor's palace in Chihuahua City made headlines around the world and elicited the condemnation of Amnesty International and the United Nations.

She was protesting the release by Chihuahua state judges of a suspect in her daughter's 2008 slaying in Juárez when a man wielding a gun shot her at close range on Thursday. Her murder was caught on camera.

Other mothers and relatives of young women who were murdered in Juárez reported being threatened, harassed and assaulted, but Escobedo is the first to be assassinated.
The two days after Escobedo's death, her common-law husband's business in Juárez was burned intentionally and her brother-in-law was abducted.

Chihuahua state officials said today that they are continuing to investigate.

In an unusual move, Chihuahua Gov. Cesar Duarte requested the suspension of the three state judges that set free the man who allegedly killed Escobedo's daughter.

Last week, the U.S. State Department announced a $50,000 grant for Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa, a nonprofit group in Juárez that advocates to end violence against women and children.

The money for the grant is from the federal government's budget for foreign assistance.

Marisela Ortiz, co-founder of the internationally renowned group, also condemned Escobedo's killing. Ortiz and her associates also have reported threats against them.
More than 1,000 girls and women were murdered in Juárez over the past 17 years, according to officials.

Also last week, Mexican officials announced that a parcel at Ejercito Nacional and Paseo de la Victoria, near the U.S. consulate, will serve as the site for a monument to honor the memory of slain women in Juárez.

The bodies of eight young women were found in a cotton field at that site in November 2001.

The InterAmerican Court of Human Rights (Organization of American States) had ordered the Mexican government to reinvestigate the 2001 "cotton field" murders, compensate the three three victims who petitioned the court, and build a memorial for the victims.

Mexican activist laid to rest as boyfriend's lumber yard goes up in flames

Family and friends gathered to celebrate the life of activist Marisela Escobedo.

A lumber yard belonging to the boyfriend of murdered activist Marisela Escobedo went up in flames early Saturday morning. Suspects started the fire and fled, officials said.

The incident occurred on the same day as Escobedo's funeral.

Firefighters stand outside "Maderera y Materiales Monje," a lumber yard in Mexico belonging to Escobedo's boyfriend, as flames tear through the interior of the business.

Authorities also reported that the body of the brother-in-law of Maridela Escobedo was found executed with his face covered with plastic bags and his feet and hands were tied with indutrial grey tape. It was reported that an armed commando had abducted Manuel Monge Amparan after they set the fire.

Escobedo, who is known in Chihuahua City as "Rubi's mom," was murdered Thursday outside of the state capitol in Chihuahua City while trying to collect signatures.

After her daughter, Rubi Freyre, was murdered in Juarez in 2008 and officials cleared the suspect arrested in the case, Escobedo took on the role of investigator and activist.