american tourist in mexico killed

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Mexico investigates death of US tourist seen in viral fight video

Cause of death seemed to be severe spinal cord injury, but officials cannot confirm.

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Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they have opened an investigation into the death of a U.S. woman seen being beaten in a video that has gone viral .

Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur said in a statement they are investigating the death of a woman they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in the town of San Jose del Cabo.

A state official who was not authorized to be quoted by name confirmed the victim was Shanquella Robinson. The official confirmed that the group she had been traveling with had since left Mexico.

A video apparently taped at a luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman.

BAHAMAS SENDS SAMPLES TO US LABS FROM 3 TOURISTS WHO DIED AT SANDALS RESORT

The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying "Can you at least fight back?" The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

Prosecutors said police found Robinson dead at the villa on Oct. 29.

The Charlotte, North Carolina station Queen City News published a report saying Robinson died of a severe spinal cord injury.

In Mexico, a tourist was killed on Oct. 29 who was seen in a viral video being beaten. Prosecutors investigating the death of the woman said she died from a severe spinal cord injury. Pictured: Pharmacies and souvenir shops in the city centre of San Jose del Cabo on the peninsula of Baja California Sur, Mexico. (Marica van der Meer/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Mexican officials said they could not confirm that was the cause of death, because it was part of an ongoing investigation.

The video raised questions about why nobody intervened in the purported beating, or why people she was traveling with would have beaten her.

In another case in a different part of Baja California Sur, prosecutors said they had arrested three men and one woman in the Oct. 25 disappearance of another American , identified as Rodney Davis, 73.

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Davis was last seen near El Juncalito beach in the township of Loreto, well to the north of San Jose del Cabo.

The three suspects face kidnapping charges. Davis's body was found two days later on a nearby highway.

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Suspect arrested in death of Mexico ‘tummy tuck’ tourists as US vows ‘justice will be done’

The group was taken hostage on friday after entering the state of tamaulipas in matamoros – an area dominated by the gulf cartel, article bookmarked.

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The FBI and Mexican authorities have made an arrest in the deaths of two American citizens killed in the state of Matamoros.

The tragic news was revealed on a televised call between Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday. Another person was found wounded while a fourth was unharmed — they are back in the US, according to the Tamaulipas Attorney General.

The group was identified by family on Monday as Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, who were killed in the abduction, and Eric James Williams and Latavia “Tay” McGee . They were taken hostage on Friday (3 March) after entering the state of Tamaulipas in Matamoros – an area dominated by the Gulf cartel.

Ms McGee was unharmed while Mr Williams suffered a gunshot wound on his leg but is expected to recover. They’ve both returned to the US.

A suspect, 24-year-old Jose “N,” has been arrested. The man was tasked with making sure the victims didn’t escape during the three-day kidnapping and he was captured at the scene on Tuesday, Mr Villareal said.

The American citizens came under fire from a group of armed men and were then bundled into the back of a pickup truck. A family member of one of the victims has said that they travelled from South Carolina to Matamoros because one of them was getting a tummy tuck there.

US officials familiar with the investigation told CNN that authorities believe a Mexican cartel mistook the victims for Haitian drug smugglers.

They were found at a stash house in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Longoreño on the way to the local beach known as Playa Baghdad, a source close to the investigation told the AP. Pictures by the AP showed the rescue.

Mr López Obrador said that one person has been arrested and the FBI continues to work along with Mexican authorities in the case. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby decried the attack on the American citizens and vowed to get justice for their families.

“We appreciate the hard work of the Justice Department the FBI and the DEA and the Department of Homeland Security … we’re grateful for their swift response to this dreadful incident and for their continued collaboration with Mexican authorities,” Mr Kirby told reporters.

“We’re going to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case.”

When asked whether the White House was considering policy changes in response to the attack, Mr Kirby said that there were no immediate remedies but insisted US authorities are working extensively to get the fatal victim’s bodies and the survivors back on American soil.

”Right now our focus is very squarely on these four Americans and the families that have been affected by the attack and I think you’ll hear more from the Justice Department as they learn more and can have more to share,” he added. “But it’s just too soon for me to be able to speak to any policy changes or, or vectors as a result of this attack.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that any attacks on American citizens under any circumstances were unacceptable.

Ms Jean-Pierre said more information will be released after family members of the two fatal victims and two kidnapping survivors are updated by US officials on any developments made in the case.

She also noted that the Biden administration remains committed to “disrupting transnational criminal organizations including Mexican drug cartels and human smugglers.”

“We remain committed to applying the full weight of our efforts and resources to counter them,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

“Right now. our immediate concerns are for the safe return of our citizens, the health and well-being of those who survived this attack, and the support which must be rendered to the families of those who need it.”

Mexican officials said that the two surviving Americans are back on US soil.

Mr Lopez Obrador also claimed that the tragedy will be seized by the American media to portray Mexico as a dangerous country, in stark contrast with their “silence when Mexicans are killed in the US.” He went on to say that GOP politicians will also use the crime as an opportunity to push “their agenda.”

“We continue to work every day towards peace and are very sorry that this has happened in our country,” President López Obrador said during the press conference.

“We send our condolences to the victims’ friends and family and the American people. And we will continue to work towards peace.”

The group of four were travelling in a white minivan with North Carolina licence plates when they crossed the US border into Mexico on 3 March.

Ms McGee’s mother Barbara Burgess said she was worried about her daughter going and warned her it might not be safe. But, her daughter brushed off her concerns telling her: “Ma, I’ll be okay”.

Ms Burgess last heard from Ms McGee on Friday when she called to say that they were just 15 minutes from the cosmetic surgeon’s office where she was scheduled to have the procedure that day. She never heard from her daughter again.

Ms Burgess said she tried calling Ms McGee later that day but her phone went straight to voicemail.

Not long later, she said she received a visit from an FBI agent, revealing what had happened.

Mr Brown’s sister Zalandria Brown told the AP that the situation felt like a “bad dream” as she revealed that her younger brother had voiced concerns about travelling to such a dangerous place.

“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,’” she said.

But Mr Brown, a 28-year-old living in Myrtle Beach, still went on the trip with his three friends – in part because they had all agreed to help share driving duties.

“This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” said Ms Brown. “To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.”

Mr Brown’s mother Christina Hickson told WPDE she “immediately” recognised him in the disturbing video circulating on social media.

The video, which has not been verified, shows armed men loading four people into the bed of a white pickup truck.

While one individual is moving and sitting upright, the other three are merely dragged limp into the vehicle.

Mr Williams’ North Carolina diver’s license was found at the scene of the abduction, reported ABC News.

The US State Department is advising Americans not to travel to Tamaulipas due to the risk of crime and kidnapping. The region is on the “Level 4: Do Not Travel” list.

The border city of Matamoros is largely controlled by the Gulf drug cartel, with violence and migrant smuggling rife.

A reward of $50,000 had been offered for information leading to the return of the victims and the arrest of the kidnappers.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 or to submit tips anonymously online at https://tips.fbi.gov

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Two Americans found dead in luxury hotel room in Mexico’s Baja California Sur

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Two Americans were found dead in their hotel room at a luxury resort in Baja California Sur, Mexico, according to authorities.

The victims were found around 9 p.m. Tuesday at Hyatt’s Rancho Pescadero, a boutique beachfront hotel in El Pescadero, a popular surf destination between Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas.

The bodies were found after a housekeeper knocked repeatedly without receiving an answer and heard a shower running, according to an internal police report obtained by The Times. Hotel staffers entered the room and found the body of a woman. In the bathroom, they found the body of a man on the shower floor, the report said.

Paramedics responded to a report of unconscious hotel guests and found the two dead of suspected gas inhalation , the Associated Press reported.

The victims were identified in the police report as John Heathco and Abby Lutz. According to the Baja California Sur attorney general’s office, Heathco was 41 and Lutz, a Newport Beach resident, was 28, ABC News reported .

“We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of our beloved Abby,” Lutz’s family said Thursday in a statement. “Abby had an adventurous spirit and a wonderfully kind heart. She loved to travel, see new places, and share her zeal for life with those around her.”

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They were on vacation in Mexico City. Then all three died of carbon monoxide poisoning in an Airbnb

Three Americans died in an Airbnb in Mexico City of carbon monoxide poisoning. One woman called her boyfriend saying she felt sick.

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The family organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover the costs of a funeral and transportation of her remains.

On the GoFundMe page, Gabrielle Slate, Lutz’s stepsister, wrote that Lutz and “her boyfriend thought they had food poisoning and went to the hospital to get treatment.”

After a few days, they had been told Lutz and her boyfriend were on the mend, Slate wrote.

“We received a phone call saying that they had passed away peacefully in their hotel room in their sleep,” Slate wrote. “We have been told it was due to improper venting of the resort and could be Carbon monoxide poisoning.”

John Heathco is listed as the founder of LES Labs, a California-based company that makes dietary supplements , on LinkedIn . A website for LES Labs lists a man named John Heathco as the founder.

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A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Baja California Sur.

“We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect for the privacy of the families, we have nothing further to add at this time.”

The Baja California Sur attorney general‘s office said the victims had been dead for about 10 or 11 hours when they were found, ABC reported. There were no signs of foul play on the victims’ bodies. The attorney general‘s office said in a statement to ABC News that the cause of death was “intoxication by substance to be determined.”

Authorities have not confirmed the cause of death with Rancho Pescadero, hotel general manager Henar Gil said in a statement, calling the situation “a terrible tragedy” and adding that “our hearts are with the impacted families and loved ones.”

“The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always a top priority,” Gil said. “We can confirm there was no evidence of violence related to this situation, and we are not aware of any threat to guests’ safety or well-being.”

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A Hyatt spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether rooms at Rancho Pescadero, which start at more than $600 a night, are equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.

Gas leaks from appliances and faulty lines are common across Mexico and have been linked to tourist deaths in the past.

In October, three Americans were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning at their Airbnb while on vacation in Mexico City.

In March 2022, an explosion caused by a gas leak killed two people and injured 18 in the tourist town of Playa del Carmen. In 2018, a family of four from Iowa was killed by gas poisoning in a condominium in a resort town an hour from Cancun.

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March 15, 2023

Times staff writer Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.

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Alexandra E. Petri is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered trends and breaking news. She previously covered live news at the New York Times. A two-time reporting fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation, she graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism and international studies.

Kate Linthicum is a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times based in Mexico City.

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Breaking news, american tourists killed after being kidnapped in mexico id’d as shaeed woodard and zindell brown.

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LAKE CITY, S.C. —The two Americans who were found dead in Mexico after  being kidnapped at gunpoint  during a terrifying shootout between rival cartel gangs were identified Tuesday as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown.

Woodard and Brown had traveled from South Carolina to Mexico with Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams so McGee, a mother of six, could undergo a tummy tuck procedure, relatives said.

But shortly after the foursome crossed the border Friday into the crime-ridden city of Matamoros, located in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, realized they were lost.

The group couldn’t find the doctor’s office where McGee, 33, was due for surgery that Friday,  CNN reported , and poor cell service in the region made it harder for them to communicate with the doctor’s office.

While trying to sort out their location, the four became caught in the middle of a violent cartel showdown.

Four US citizens from South Carolina were abducted in Matamoros

• Gulf Cartel apologizes, turns over 5 members tied to Americans’ deadly kidnapping
• Mexico kidnapping survivor saw friends ‘killed right in front of him’: cousin
• Friend of kidnapped Americans reveals how she dodged Mexico ordeal

Harrowing video of the shootout shows the moment the group was forced into the back of a pickup truck in broad daylight after being shot at.

Tamaulipas state chief prosecutor Irving Barrios said he believes the deadly ambush was a result of “confusion, not a direct attack.”

Matamoros’ sinister reputation for ruthless organized crime had led to initial speculation that the abduction was drug-related, but a source close to the investigation told the Dallas Morning News on Monday that the Americans may have been mistaken for Haitian smugglers.

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McGee and Williams survived the attack  and were rushed Tuesday to Brownsville, Texas, in a convoy of ambulances and SUVs escorted by Mexican military Humvees and national guard trucks with mounted .50-caliber machine guns.

Williams was shot in the left leg but the wound was not life-threatening, Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said. McGee survived the ordeal without physical injuries. 

Local authorities will examine the bodies of Woodard and Brown before they are repatriated to the US, the governor added.

The tourists were found in a shack in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Tecolote, on the way to the Gulf coast known as “Bagdad Beach,” Barrios said.

A photo of McGee taken shortly after she was rescued shows her covered in dirt with no shoes, with a traumatized look on her face.

Villarreal said they were being guarded by a man who has been arrested.

He added that the abducted Americans had been moved around by their captors, and at one point were taken to a medical clinic “to create confusion and avoid efforts to rescue them.”

McGee and Woodard were first cousins, their aunt Retha Darby told The Post from her home in South Carolina on Tuesday before news broke of Woodard’s death. 

She said her niece had told her about the medical procedure.

“She came by and visit me. She said, ‘I’m gonna be going to get surgery.’ I said, ‘Surgery on what?’ She said tummy tuck. She said, ‘My tummy getting too big.’ That was about a week ago,” Darby recalled of her last conversation with her 33-year-old niece.

“I didn’t know where she was going. I thought it was somewhere local.”

Darby, 72, is recovering from a stroke and is mostly confined to her Lake City home with a nurse. She said she shares a close bond with her niece, who regularly comes to visit her.

“She’s nice to me and everybody I know,” Darby said of McGee, noting that she is a good mom whose children adore her.

“She liked to dress well. Nice clothes. Hair fixed. Her face all done up,” she said.

Darby said she last spoke to her nephew, Woodard, “a couple weeks ago.”

“I try to keep him doing the right thing, but I can’t do so much because I can’t get around so much,” she explained tearfully. “I wish I could help them.”

Robert Williams said the news that his brother Eric survived the kidnapping was “quite a relief.”

“I look forward to seeing him again and actually being able to talk to him,” he said.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said he wants “to see accountability for the violence that has been inflicted on these Americans that tragically led to the death of two of them.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is “working with Mexican officials to learn more and to have all Americans returned to the United States.”

“President Biden has been kept updated on this incident,” she said. “We extend our deepest condolences to their families and friends.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, meanwhile, criticized the US media for its coverage of the ordeal. “It’s not like that when they kill Mexicans in the United States,” he said of the press. “They go quiet like mummies.”

The kidnapping comes as Republican politicians have called for a more comprehensive response to cartel violence in northern Mexico that sometimes spills across the border.

US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Monday he wants to “put Mexico on notice,” and plans to introduce legislation that would classify some Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

The move would allow the US to use military force against cartels.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said López Obrador is “being held hostage” by cartels.

“It’s pretty close at this stage to a failed narco-state. They can use violence and oceans of cash to corrupt the government. The government has no will, and it doesn’t have the ability to deal with the cartels,” he told Fox News.

Barr said Mexican authorities should “stand aside” and let US forces take over if they won’t tackle the cartels head-on. 

Additional reporting by Jesse O’Neill

With Post wires

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4 found dead in hotel area of Mexico’s Cancun beach resort

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in the Mexican resort of Cancun said Monday they have found four dead bodies in the city’s hotel zone near the beach.

There was no immediate information on the nationalities or identities of the victims. The announcement of the deaths came less that a week after a U.S. tourist was shot in the leg in the nearby town of Puerto Morelos.

Prosecutors originally said three bodies were found Monday in a lot near one of Cancun’s beachside hotels along the Kukulkan Boulevard. They then added that a fourth body was found in the undergrowth on the same lot, brining to four the number of victims.

Prosecutors in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said two suspects had been detained in the killings. They said the deaths were under investigation, but did not give a cause of death.

Last week in Puerto Morelos, a U.S. tourist was approached by several suspects, and they shot him in the leg. The motive remains under investigation. The wounded man was taken to a hospital in Cancun for treatment, and his injury was judged to be not life-threatening.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert earlier this month warning travelers to “exercise increased caution,” especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug gang violence in the past.

There have been a series of brazen acts of violence along the Caribbean coast, the crown jewel of Mexico’s tourism industry.

In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.

In 2021, farther south in the laid-back destination of Tulum, two tourists — one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German — were killed when they apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.

Watch CBS News

5 killed in attack at Acapulco grocery store just days after 10 other bodies found in Mexican resort city

Updated on: May 24, 2024 / 6:36 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Five people were killed and another wounded on Thursday in an armed attack in Mexico's Acapulco, a prosecutor's office said, just three days after 10 other bodies were found in the resort city plagued by cartel violence .

The latest attack occurred at a grocery store located in a handicrafts market near the main tourist avenue of the famous Pacific coastal city.

The prosecutor's office in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, said in a statement that it was investigating the attack which left four men and a woman dead, and another person wounded.

Authorities on Tuesday said 10 bodies were found scattered around the once-glamorous resort city, which has been engulfed by violence linked to organized crime.

Six of the bodies were left Monday night on an avenue near a market, according to the local public security office.

Media in the city reported the bodies had been thrown from a car.

A shooting in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood left three others dead, and another person was shot dead in the tourist part of the city.

Recent violence in Acapulco

Acapulco was once a playground for the rich and famous, but it has lost its luster in the last decade as foreign tourists have been spooked by bloodshed that has made it one of the world's most violent cities.  

Last month, the head of Acapulco's traffic police was  shot to death  when assailants opened fire on him on a street relatively far away from the resort's beaches.

In February, the strangled bodies of two men were found on the popular Condesa beach in Acapulco. Prosecutors said the men's bodies bore signs of "torture by ligature" with "signs of torture around the neck."

Around that same time, at least three people were shot dead on beaches in Acapulco, one by gunmen who arrived - and escaped -  aboard a boat .

The city is also still struggling to recover after being  hit by Category 5 Hurricane Otis  in October. Otis left at least  52 dead  and destroyed or damaged most hotels.

Guerrero state is one of the worst affected by drug trafficking in Mexico. Disputes between  cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023. Guerrero is among six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department  advises  Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence.

Spiraling criminal violence has seen more than 450,000 people murdered in the country since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.

Criminal gangs are involved not just in drug trafficking but other illegal activities including people smuggling, extortion and fuel theft.

Mexico has also been recently plagued by a  wave of political violence  ahead of the June 2 elections. More than two dozen politicians have been killed since September last year, according to the NGO Data Civica -- including one mayoral hopeful who was  shot dead last month  just as she began campaigning.

• Drug Cartels

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Mexico requests extradition of American charged in tourist death

Shanquella Robinson reportedly died while on holiday after viral video shows her being beaten, apparently by an American woman

The US is weighing an extradition request from Mexico after authorities in the country charged an American woman with murdering another US woman shown being beaten while they vacationed in a viral video.

Prosecutors in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur have not named the suspect in the death of North Carolina’s Shanquella Robinson, who reportedly died of a severe spinal cord or neck injury while on holiday in Mexico on 29 October.

Robinson’s death sparked mass intrigue on social media after a viral video showed her being beaten, apparently by an American woman. Robinson had traveled to San Jose del Cabo with friends, who told Robinson’s family she died from alcohol poisoning.

But a copy of Robinson’s death certificate, obtained by Charlotte news channel WBTV , said the cause of her death was “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation”.

State prosecutors said evidence showed the death resulted from “a direct attack, not an accident”, and involved a female friend of the victim, CNN reported . They said they have approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get an unnamed female suspect extradited to face charges in Mexico.

Robinson’s death shocked people in both Mexico and the US.

The 25-year-old had arrived in San Jose del Cabo on 28 October and was staying at a vacation rental home with college friends, her father told CNN .

Robinson’s mother, Salamondra Robinson, told CBS News that her daughter’s friends initially said she had become sick with alcohol poisoning.

However, when a video showing Robinson being beaten went viral, in mid-November , it raised suspicions that Robinson may have died at the hands of people with whom she traveled.

The video shows Robinson being thrown to the ground and struck on the head. In the footage a man with an American accent can be heard saying: “Can you at least fight back?” The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

Salamondra Robinson confirmed to CBS News that it was her daughter in the video, adding that a man on the trip “supposedly was her best friend”.

“And he had went on family trips with us, you know?” Salamondra Robinson added. “And he had been to the family house.”

The group Robinson was traveling with left Mexico after she was found dead.

Local prosecutor Antonio López Rodríguez said the case was being treated as a potential homicide and an arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect, the Associated Press reported .

The attorney general for Baja California Sur, Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, said the death did not result from a “quarrel” but from “a direct aggression that this person made”, according to CNN . De la Rosa Anaya confirmed that the suspect was an American but did not identify her.

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Death of California public defender in Mexico under investigation

Elliot Blair went to Mexico with his wife to celebrate their anniversary.

MEXICO CITY and LONDON -- Mexican authorities said Monday that the recent death of an American tourist appears to be "an unfortunate accident."

U.S. citizen Elliot Blair died on Jan. 14 at Las Rocas Resort and Spa, located on the shores of Rosarito Beach, just south of Tijuana, along the western coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. While investigators initially believed that Blair died from a fall, there is a specific injury on his forehead "that would not have been caused by a fall," a local law enforcement official told ABC News on Monday.

MORE: Rally for Shanquella Robinson, American tourist who died in Mexico, calls for justice

However, the State Attorney General's Office of Baja California later released a statement saying an autopsy established that Blair's death "was the result of an unfortunate accident due to the fall of the deceased from a third floor." The office said the investigation is ongoing and that it is in contact with U.S. authorities, who are sharing necessary information with Blair's loved ones.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told ABC News on Tuesday that they are aware of reports of the death of an American citizen in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. The State Department stands ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance, according to the spokesperson, who declined to comment further, citing respect to the family during this difficult time.

ABC News has also reached out to the FBI for comment.

Blair, a California resident and Orange County public defender, was staying at the Mexican resort with his wife to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on Jan. 15. He was found dead the day before, just hours after the couple had gone out for dinner and dancing, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC .

His family said in a press release via their attorney Tuesday night that they believe he was the victim of "a brutal crime," and that no one from the Rosarito Beach Police Department or Mexican government has reached out to speak with them directly.

The family said in the statement they have received communication from a liaison to the coroner's office, who told them the cause of death was severe head trauma. Blair's family is insisting his body not be cremated, and they have hired a private investigator to conduct an independent investigation, according to the statement.

His wife has been given "multiple versions of what happened," his family said. In their statement, the family said the "only real facts that are known" at this time are that the incident occurred in an open-air walkway "located outside the front door of their room," not a private balcony; Blair was not intoxicated at the time of the incident; he and his wife had stayed at the Las Rocas Resort and Spa many times and were familiar with the hotel; Blair was found in his sleeping attire, a T-shirt and underwear; and that he was a fluent Spanish speaker.

MORE: Arrest warrant issued for femicide in death of American woman in Mexico

Blair's wife, Kimberly Williams, is also an Orange County public defender. The Williams family told KABC on Monday that they "have reasons to believe, and evidence, that there was possible foul play" but don't want to compromise the investigation.

A spokesperson from the Orange County Public Defender's Office, Martin Schwarz, told KABC on Monday that Blair was a "devoted husband, terrific person and a fantastic lawyer who dedicated his life to serving his clients and helping the county's most vulnerable."

"He impacted countless lives and his loss will be felt deeply by all who knew him," Schwarz added. "We have been in communication with the family and are doing what we can to support them in this difficult time, including working with local and federal officials to help provide them with answers."

ABC News' Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.

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South of the border, a woman is poised to take power in historic Mexico elections

The election will likely have big ramifications for the u.s. and others. 'so many things that happen in mexico don’t stay in mexico; they influence the united states,' one expert said..

The U.S. tried and failed, and now Mexico is getting there first.

In an historic election on Sunday, Mexican voters are expected to elect a woman − most likely a woman of Jewish ancestry − to lead the country, beating its neighboring ally and sometimes competitor, the United States, to that distinction.

Claudia Sheinbaum is favored to win and become the next negotiator-in-chief with the U.S. on issues from cross-border trade to immigration and drug and fentanyl trafficking , with consequences that inevitably spill into American households.

Here's what to know about election day in Mexico, and the woman likely to win.

A woman will likely become president of Mexico

It's a three-way presidential race with a clear front-runner: Claudia Sheinbaum , a scientist, engineer and former mayor of Mexico City who shares the populist ideology of her political mentor, current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Xóchitl Gálvez, a businesswoman and former senator, is trailing second place in polls, all but ensuring that Mexico will elect a female head of state before the U.S. does. Jorge Álvarez Máynez is the third candidate.

"So many things that happen in Mexico don’t stay in Mexico; they influence the United States," said Shannon O'Neil, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Who the next president of Mexico is really matters."

Political rhetoric north of the border may leave some Americans thinking of Mexico in stereotypes and caricatures: former President Donald Trump's "bad hombres," or spring breakers . But Mexico’s stamp on the U.S. is everywhere.

It’s in the Mexico-made car parts that keep U.S. autoworkers employed in Detroit , in the windmill blades exported to U.S. clean energy plants , in the pacemakers saving the lives of American patients with heart failure and in the $15 avocado toast on restaurant menus nationwide.

The country became the United States’ largest trading partner last year, pushing China to the No. 2 spot, and the two neighbors now do nearly $800 billion in trade annually , according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But it’s a fraught relationship. Mexico is also the transit country for hundreds of thousands of U.S.-bound migrants, provoking repeated humanitarian crises at the U.S. border. And it’s the source country for the fentanyl that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.

"If you have a president that is open to the United States and cooperating on the shared challenges and doubling down on the opportunities," O'Neil said, "that is better for the United States. If you have a president who is more suspicious and doesn’t want to work with the United States, then it’s much harder."

Frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum calls out racism, 'machismo'

Sheinbaum, who has been leading in polls by double-digits, is seen as more of a left-leaning idealist than a savvy deal-maker like López Obrador. But she has promised to continue his agenda.

In a campaign rally outside Mexico's colonial-era Palacio Nacional on Wednesday, Sheinbaum, 61, lauded López Obrador as the "best president Mexico has ever had," railed against "neoliberalism" and promised to carry on López Obrador's measures to combat inequality.

Those measures include cash transfers to some 25 million Mexicans, O'Neil said, including elderly people, students and others.

"Humanism means reclaiming rights and eradicating classism, racism, machismo and discrimination – which all belong to right-wing thinking," Sheinbaum said.

U.S.-Mexico cooperation suffered under López Obrador in some areas and held strong in others , and experts predict more of the same if Sheinbaum wins.

López Obrador scaled back security cooperation by quitting an agreement called the Mérida Initiative, under which the U.S. had committed $1.5 billion to help Mexico battle criminal organizations . But he renegotiated the key free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico and has continued partnering with the U.S. on one of its current top priorities: slowing migration to the U.S. border .

Mexican voters concerned with economy, public safety

But the issues most important to the United States – trade, immigration, border security, drug trafficking – aren't the ones that Mexicans care about most.

In regions from the industrial north to the Caribbean coast and all-important capital city of 22 million people, Mexican voters are worried about inflation, economic opportunities and public safety in their own communities.

It's the biggest election the country has ever had, with 20,708 offices up for grabs, according to the National Electoral Institute. Campaigns across Mexico have been marred by violence; a mayoral candidate in southern Guerrero state was shot to death Wednesday.

"Whoever wins will be dealing with huge issues in terms of security," said Jennifer Apperti, director of the Texas-Mexico Center at Southern Methodist University.

In Mexico, the next administration's focus is likely to be domestic policy, not foreign policy, she said. "Two of the biggest domestic issues are: What are we doing about crime and also jobs?"

Official corruption in Mexico and insatiable demand for drugs in the U.S. have helped criminal organizations flourish across many regions in Mexico. They've amassed power to control not only the drug trade but legitimate export industries including avocados and limes . Where rival organizations fight for territory, Mexicans live under a heavy cloud of extreme violence .

Gálvez, the candidate trailing second in the polls, is trying to capitalize on that discontent. In her final campaign rally in the northern city of Monterrey, she called out the "136,000 killed and 50,000 disappeared" in Mexico during López Obrador's six-year term.

"This is the result of a security strategy in which the 'hugs' have been for criminals and the 'bullets' for citizens," she said, referring to López Obrador's signature "hugs not bullets" strategy of not tackling criminal organizations head-on.

Faced with the realities of violence and weak economic growth in Mexico, in a recent poll by the El Paso, Texas-based Puente Collaborative , more than a third of Mexican respondents said they would consider migrating to the U.S. to improve their working or living conditions.

A path for prosperity in U.S.-Mexico relationship

But more often Mexicans are staying put. They're finding jobs in the hundreds of assembly plants that send car parts, pacemakers, respirators, computers and Christmas lights to the U.S., or they're working in the booming tourist ports from Puerto Vallarta to Cancun .

In Mexico, the hundreds of thousands of migrants pushing north to the U.S. border are increasingly from somewhere else .

In Mexico City's enormous Zócalo public square on Wednesday, Lorenzo Pacheco held a sign for Sheinbaum. Pacheco has never worked in the U.S., he said. But with the peso gaining strength against the U.S. dollar, he recently took a four-day trip to visit the casinos of Las Vegas.

He wore the maroon color of Sheinbaum's political party, MORENA, and said he'd vote for her on Sunday. But even a militant "morenista" like him said the government hasn't done enough to fight organized crime.

"It's a problem the current government should handle with a tougher hand," he said. "Because really they haven't solved the problem."

Like many Mexicans, Pacheco sees a path for Mexican prosperity in its relationship with the U.S. The Puente poll found that 42% of Mexicans view the current relationship with the U.S. favorably and 60% hold a favorable opinion of U.S. citizens.

"The United States depends on Mexico as much as Mexico depends on the United States," Pacheco said. "There should be more openness in trade and tourism and everything that benefits both countries. As one grows, so grows the other."

Omar Ornelas reported from Mexico City.

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The Morning

Mexico elects claudia sheinbaum.

We explain why so many Mexican citizens are happy with their country’s direction.

By David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick

When foreigners hear news from Mexico, it can often sound chaotic, involving cartels, crime or migration surges. But last night’s election results make clear that most Mexicans are pleased with their country’s direction.

Claudia Sheinbaum — the former mayor of Mexico City and the chosen successor of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador — won the presidency easily . Sheinbaum, a leftist-leaning engineer, received about 58 percent of the vote, to around 29 percent for Xóchitl Gálvez, a centrist entrepreneur, and about 11 percent for Jorge Álvarez Máynez, a progressive candidate. Mexican law restricts presidents to a single term. (Votes are still being counted. See live results here .)

In today’s newsletter, we’ll explain why most Mexican citizens have been so satisfied with López Obrador (who’s often known by his initials, AMLO) and what challenges Sheinbaum will likely face, starting with violent crime, which is indeed a major problem.

Mexico’s election matters well beyond its borders. It is virtually tied with Canada as the biggest trading partner of the U.S. In the years ahead, U.S.-Mexico trade seems likely to increase, partly because tensions with China have given American companies a reason to move production to friendlier countries.

More people are voting for leaders in 2024 than in any previous year, with dozens of countries holding elections. Taiwan , Indonesia and South Africa have already done so. Voting in India ended over the weekend, with results set to be announced tomorrow. Britain will vote on July 4, and the U.S. presidential election will be the last major one, on Nov. 5.

Each country has its own dynamics, of course, but we will highlight some strands that connect Mexican politics to politics elsewhere. Regular readers of The Morning will notice a familiar theme: Populism is ascendant .

A vibrant economy

The No. 1 reason for AMLO’s popularity is the Mexican economy. Thanks both to his policies and to outside factors, incomes have risen for a broad group of Mexicans, and poverty has declined.

The minimum wage has doubled since he took office, notes our colleague Simon Romero, who’s based in Mexico City. AMLO reformed labor law so that workers could more easily join independent unions. He expanded pensions. He increased the number of mandatory vacation days that workers receive. He built infrastructure, like a tourist train line in the Yucatán.

Economic optimism in Mexico

Share of Mexicans who say their standards of living are getting better

“AMLO’s popularity is always talked about as something inexplicable,” Juan David Rojas, a political analyst, told The Guardian . “But it’s very simple: He does things that Mexicans like.”

The economy has also benefited from the early stages of “friendshoring,” in which U.S. companies shift some operations from China to allied nations. Last year, the U.S. bought more goods from Mexico than China for the first time in two decades .

Us versus them

Beyond economic results, AMLO governs in a feisty style that voters seem to enjoy. “AMLO has forged a connection with many Mexican voters, which is rare in the country’s recent history,” our colleague Simon says. “He’s a combative communicator who seizes control of the narrative with a folksy, us-versus-them style.”

He cut government salaries and cracked down on corporate tax avoidance. He has taken the public bus as president, speaks in an informal version of Spanish and harshly criticizes Mexico’s economic elites, Viri Ríos, a political scientist, has noted . AMLO also increased oil production, rejecting environmental concerns.

Many democracy experts find parts of his approach to be worrisome — and connected to a global rise of autocratic behavior. AMLO is a leftist, but his governing style has similarities to those of right-wing figures like Narendra Modi in India, Viktor Orban in Hungary and Donald Trump in the U.S.

AMLO has called the judiciary “ rotten ” and claimed some judges were part of a conservative conspiracy “dedicated to plundering the country.” He disparages journalists whose coverage he doesn’t like and runs weekly sessions devoted to “lies.” He has given the military additional powers, including policing many parts of the country.

His reliance on the military has contributed to his biggest failure because it has been ineffective at protecting public safety. Crime has risen, and cartels control parts of the country. A Times analysis found that 36 political candidates had been killed since last summer , as had some relatives of candidates.

Opinion on public safety in Mexico

Share of Mexicans who say they do not feel safe walking alone at night

Sheinbaum’s résumé

As a candidate, Sheinbaum — who is a decorated climate scientist and will be Mexico’s first female president — linked herself tightly to AMLO. “Even though many Mexicans do not fully agree with our project,” she said in a victory speech , “we will have to walk in peace and harmony to continue building a fair and more prosperous Mexico.”

Sheinbaum, 61, insists that she is a different person from AMLO and will govern independently from him. She takes a more technocratic approach. As Mexico City’s mayor, she oversaw a sharp drop in crime, for example. She increased police salaries, improved training and implemented community-policing models that some U.S. cities pioneered, as Kate Linthicum of The Los Angeles Times has noted .

One early issue for Sheinbaum will involve the border. AMLO’s government has worked closely with President Biden this year to reduce migration from other countries through Mexico. (Mexico’s strong economic boom means that fewer Mexicans are trying to migrate to the U.S., Simon points out.) Biden may soon announce policies that could lead to a buildup of migrants on Mexico’s side of the border. Most analysts expect Sheinbaum to cooperate with the U.S.

She will also inherit some problems AMLO created, such as a big budget deficit. And she lacks his personal popularity. AMLO founded his and Sheinbaum’s political party, known as Morena, and then enacted popular policies as president.

As Natalie Kitroeff, The Times’s Mexico City bureau chief, has written about Sheinbaum : “Will she dare to stray from those policies if she wins office, inviting the reproach of Mr. López Obrador and the movement that got her there? Or will she dedicate herself to cementing his legacy, even if it means stifling her own vision?”

Related: Sheinbaum, who rarely discusses her heritage, will also become Mexico’s first Jewish president .

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Combine lemon and garlic to make this 30-minute linguine .

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And here are today’s Mini Crossword , Wordle , Sudoku , Connections and Strands .

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. —David and Ian

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox . Reach our team at [email protected] .

David Leonhardt runs The Morning , The Times’s flagship daily newsletter. Since joining The Times in 1999, he has been an economics columnist, opinion columnist, head of the Washington bureau and founding editor of the Upshot section, among other roles. More about David Leonhardt

Ian Prasad Philbrick is a writer for The Morning newsletter. More about Ian Prasad Philbrick

In Mexico, a wave of political murders ahead of elections eats away at democracy

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Guarded by more than a dozen police officers equipped with semi-automatic rifles and donning a helmet and bulletproof vest, Ramiro Solorio looks more like he is leading an armed raid than running for local political office.

But in parts of Mexico, where scores of local political candidates have been murdered ahead of national elections on June 2, the risk of violence and assassination are so high that many feel they have no choice but to campaign alongside armed guards or wear flak jackets and move around in armored cars.

“We are afraid of being murdered,” Solorio, 55, said, as he greeted residents in one of Acapulco’s poor outskirts, the underbelly of this glitzy tourist spot, where streets stink with overflowing garbage and pools of stagnant water. He is protected by 15 members of the National Guard after federal authorities found significant risks to his safety.

More political candidates — six — have been killed in the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located, than in any other in Mexico.

From September to May, across Mexico, 34 candidates or aspiring candidates have been assassinated. Security analysts say the killings are mostly linked to drug cartels seeking to influence local elections.

Reuters talked to more than a dozen candidates and party heads to understand the impact of the violence on local elections and the fears many aspiring politicians face.

Solorio, who is running for mayor of Acapulco for the Social Encounter Party, is particularly concerned because he has made security a core issue of his campaign. Frequently dressing as a Mexican wrestler in a blue “lucha libre” mask, he has dubbed himself “El Brother,” as he goes door to door promising to get tough on crime and corruption.

“The coexistence between the government and crime is a reality,” Solorio alleged, vowing to clean up local government and restore law and order.

Although the ruling MORENA party is expected to comfortably win the presidential election, the violence against local candidates is a significant blot on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s legacy and one that underpins criticism that he has failed to improve Mexico’s security situation. Lopez Obrador will leave office this year when his term ends. His successor is to be chosen on June 2, the same day as the violence-hit elections for local governments.

Lopez Obrador has dismissed data showing an increase in attacks as “sensationalism.” The president defends his record on security, pointing to a 5% fall in homicides last year compared with 2022. But murders still hover around 30,000 a year and more people have been killed during his presidency than during any other administration in Mexico’s modern history.

“There are areas that candidates definitely can’t enter,” said Eloy Salmeron, head of the opposition PAN party in Guerrero. In some parts, the party has not fielded any candidates. “There is a lot of fear,” he said.

Unprecedented violence

This election campaign has already seen the highest number of violent incidents reported against candidates, according to the risk consultancy Integralia. It counts 560 incidents, way above the previous high of 389 during the last presidential election, even if the number of murdered candidates is slightly below the 2021 gubernatorial elections.

“The violence that the electoral process is facing is unprecedented,” Armando Vargas, an expert at Integralia said.

Safety concerns have led to dozens of aspiring candidates dropping out in Mexico, and countless more decided never to run.

The impact on municipal politics in particular has put the very functioning of democracy at risk in certain states.

For example, in Tumbiscatio, Michoacan — a violence-ridden town where cartels have used drones armed with explosives — authorities have decided the town is not safe enough to host a voting booth and voters will have to travel to a neighboring town to place their ballot for mayor and other municipal posts.

Across Michoacan, the locations of 11 originally planned voting booths have been canceled due in part to security concerns, according to an electoral authority spreadsheet seen by Reuters.

“It’s an attack on democracy itself,” said Vicente Sanchez, a security expert at the public research institute Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Colef) in Tijuana. Organized crime groups are effectively choosing local officials by threatening or assassinating those they oppose, he said.

In Michoacan, which borders Guerrero, Francisco Huacus is running for congress for the opposition PRD party. He campaigns in an armored vehicle and wearing a flak jacket.

“We have to campaign as if we were in a warzone,” he said.

Huacus says his colleagues running for local office are in even more danger than he is, with organized crime groups most interested in exerting local influence that enables them to help control trafficking routes.

In the face of the attacks, the Mexican government has extended security protection — usually involving armed guards — to around 500 candidates throughout the country who have said their lives are at risk. That’s only a tiny fraction of the total candidates running for more than 20,000 political posts in the June vote.

Back in Acapulco, Solorio puts on his blue lucha libre mask and pulls a wrestler pose — knees bent and biceps tensed.

“We will fight for justice in Acapulco,” he shouts. Behind him armed guards keep watch.