Female Mexican mayor murdered 1 day after taking office

yinka ogunlami

January 3, 2016 5:18 PM

The new mayor of Temixco, a municipality in Mexico was slain by armed men inside her home on Saturday.

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The new mayor of Temixco, a municipality in Mexico was slain by armed men inside her home on Saturday. Gisela Mota Ocampo was sworn into office on Friday to lead Temixco, a city of nearly 100,000 people 60 miles south of Mexico City.

Fifty-eight new mayors assumed office without incident in Oaxaca this week, but not so in Temixco, Morelos, where Gisela Mota Ocampo, 33, was assassinated yesterday, a day within being sworn in.

The attackers entered her house Saturday morning while her family was present and killed her in the doorway, said Alberto Capella, Morelos state security commissioner, at a press briefing.

Police pursued and exchanged gunfire with the armed men, killing two of them, he said. Two adults and a juvenile were arrested and will be prosecuted, said Javier Perez Duron, Morelos attorney general.

The Morelos state government issued a statement praising Mota Ocampo as "an honest and committed public servant" and calling the attack "a challenge that organized crime launched against the constitutional and democratic order."

"The government of the State of Morelos states categorically that we will not compromise or give a single step back in building a secure entity, in peace and harmony," the statement said.

Mota, a federal deputy of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) from 2012-2015, was murdered at her home in Pueblo Viejo. She had won election for mayor last June.

Morelos Governor Graco Ramirez tweeted after the occurrence that her killing was a challenge by organized crime and declared, “We shall not give in.”

National president of the Partido Revolucionario Democratico, (Democratic Revolutionary Party) Agustin Basave condemned the killing and observed that Mota, 33, was a strong and courageous woman who had declared on taking office that her fight against crime would be “head-on and direct.”

Government Secretary Carlos Santiago Carrasco said the handover which took place the previous day had gone quite peacefully and without incident. A police operation bolstered by the deployment of the National Gendarmerie helped ensure a peaceful process, he said.

Morelos state is known for drug cartel activity. Several years ago, a 14-year-old assassin for a drug cartel created international interest with his on-camera descriptions of killings he'd committed.

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