PHOENIX — Three people found dead with obvious signs of trauma in a vacant lot west of Phoenix have been identified as Mexican migrants who were on their way to Milwaukee, the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix said.
A man, identified as 21-year-old Juan Vargas, has been arrested in connection to the crime, the Phoenix Police Department said. Officers gave no other details on the arrest.
The three homicide victims were found near 99th Avenue and Mobile Lane on February 20th, after police got a report of an injured person around 1:30 p.m.
The men were identified as 28-year-old Herminio Perez Ramirez, 21-year-old Isauro Martinez Dominguez and 16-year-old Abimael Jimenez Morenos.
One of the victims told his girlfriend he feared two men people in Phoenix may try to kill him, court records show.
The victims are from Santo Domingo Tepuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico and ventured up north to the United States in September looking for a better life, the family told 12 News.
“He was a talented kid,” said Zaqueo Bautista, Abimael’s cousin. “A kid that loved to play, he was working all the time.”
Abimael was raised by his single mother, his cousin said. He played in a Christian band in his hometown and enjoyed going to school, but violence and limited opportunities to progress forced the 16-year-old to drop out of school and migrate north, Zaqueo Bautista said.
“Indigenous communities don’t get much help, scholarships aren’t for everyone. They are for a select few, that’s why teenagers leave, abandon their towns and country,” the cousin said.
The three men had been living in Phoenix for about a month and were working as dishwashers at a restaurant, Zaqueo said. They were on their way to Wisconsin to meet other relatives but lost contact with them a week before they were found dead, allegedly beaten.
“When the families identified the bodies, they said the victims presented various injuries throughout their bodies, aside from the deadly injury, they had blows and bruises all throughout their bodies,” said Joaquín Bautista, a human rights activist that lives in Oaxaca and who has been communicating with the victim’s family in Mexico.
The Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix, along with the Ambassador of Mexico to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, condemned the violence against the three Mexican nationals and demanded justice in a prepared statement.
“In these circumstances where the deaths are homicides and they are not subject to natural causes [when they died] we immediately approached the authorities… and demanded they take this investigation to the fullest extent,” said Lilían Córdoba Vázquez, Mexican Consul for protection and legal affairs in Phoenix.
The cause of death has not been determined and police said their investigation was ongoing.
“Evidently this is something traumatic and it reaffirms this idea that migration is a result of a series of structural injustices here in Mexico that doesn’t let its people prosper,” said Joaquín Bautista. “On their journey for a better life, they found the most tragic death as they were fleeing from violence that is commonly seen in Mexico.”
When asked if the victims were tortured as family members believe, Vázquez said it was too early to tell but “we’re open to considering all possibilities” adding, “at this point, it’s difficult to say it’s related to somewhat what happens in Mexico to immigrants because we don’t have enough information.”
The Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix is now working with the families to repatriate the bodies back to their hometowns. There’s no timeline of when that could happen.
“We cannot stay here with our hands crossed, because the criminals, the killers are free,” said Zaqueo Bautista. “Never had we seen this type of news and that’s why we are frustrated.”
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Un sospechoso fue arrestado en relación con la muerte de 3 migrantes en Phoenix, México pide justicia
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