Grandparents, Age 90 and 96, Executed by Cartel Hitmen in SLRC, Sonora

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Police were called to the scene of a triple homicide which took place inside a private residence within the border city of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. Two of the victims were an elderly couple, age 90 and 96 years old were two of the murdered victims.

The Triple Homicide

At approximately 10:00 pm at night on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, 62-year old man named Felizardo attempted to hide inside his parents home, where he lived, from a group of cartel members who were hunting him. 

His parents, María, age 90 years old and Pedro, age 96 years old, owned a residence on Jamaica Avenue in the border city of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. The home was located within the southwestern Grullita neighborhood, in between Jamaica Avenue’s intersection with San Miguel Street and San Felipe Street.

Felizardo was an alleged drug dealer and he was known to be in some hot water with a cartel group - either Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Salazars or Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Rusos. On a previous occasion, the front of his parents home had been shot up by cartel hitmen, leaving the front façade of their home pockmarked with bullet holes. 

This prior incident likely served as a first warning for some transgression by Felizardo - such as selling drugs supplied by a rival cartel or not paying “de piso”, an extortion fee to a cartel group, in exchange for the right to do business in their territory.

It appears that Felizardo ignored this first warning and during the night hours of August 3, a group of cartel hitmen ambushed him somewhere in the Grullita neighborhood. According to Central FM, Felizardo tried to escape and ran into his parents home, with the hitmen chasing right behind. 

No graphic content. Video Source: Diario Nueva Expresion

When the hitmen caught up with him, they shot him to death along with both of his parents, who were in their 90s. Police were later notified by an emergency line call and officers were dispatched to the home, where they confirmed the triple homicide. 

On August 4, 2022, the state Attorney General’s Office published a press release which announced that during sweeps of the neighborhoods surrounding the crime scene, they had nabbed 9 people who were either suspected of being involved in the homicide or carrying firearms that were illegal for civilians to possess. A total of three vehicles and 7 firearms were seized in these sweeps.

After further investigation, four of the nine they initially detained were narrowed in on. These four were approached by officers in the  Mezquite neighborhood within the city when they were driving a white 2020 Dodge Durango SUV. The SUV had a license plate from Arizona and, after it was run through the system, it was discovered to have been reported as stolen.

According to newspaper El Mexicano, these four potential suspects are:

 

Jesús Ramiro "N", 30 years old

Héctor David "N", 22 years old

Luis Alberto "N", 20 years old

José Miguel "N", 27 years old

These four men were found to be in possession of two ballistic plate vests and each man was carrying a 5.56×45mm long-barrel firearm with corresponding ammo, according to Tribuna. Newspaper El 5 to Poder, states that the four firearms will undergo ballistic testing to determine if they were the same firearms used in the triple homicide. 

Photos and the location of where they are originally from has not been released by authorities as of the writing of this story.

Sources: Sonora FGE Official Press Release, Radar Sonora, Sonora Informativo, El Norte, El Mexicano, Central FM Equilibrio, Omnia, El Universal, Excelsior, Tiempo, Tribuna, El Blog Sin Censura, El 5 to Poder Article 1, Article 2, Calvarie Locus, La Prensa Sonora, Report 653