Family Seeking Help, Answers After El Paso Mother Killed In Juarez

Jorge Gutierrez’s eyes brim with tears as he recalls the devastating tragedies his family has gone through over the past couple of years.

Nearly four years ago, Gutierrez lost 26-year-old daughter Yadira Gutierrez in a car wreck on Mesa Street. Two days ago he lost another daughter, 28-year-old Cynthia Gutierrez, after she was killed in Ciudad Juarez.

“I keep asking myself why,” Jorge said. “(Thursday) morning I was taking a shower and I was telling myself, ‘God, please don’t do that to me anymore, don’t take my kids. Take me instead.'”

The Gutierrez family is now searching for answers in Cynthia’s death. The Bel Air High School graduate was a mother to a 7-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl.

Jorge said Cynthia liked crossing the border to visit family members in Juarez and even took them groceries from time to time.

“She would help her aunts and uncles, then come back. On this occasion, she went by herself and this is what happened. She got ambushed,” said Jorge.

Cynthia was found dead outside the Mi Kasa Motel in Juarez. Her body was inside her 2001 Chevy with 12 bullet casings surrounding it. Mexican authorities are investigating this case as a homicide.

“We don’t really know the reason (Cynthia was killed). It was maybe because of her car. She had a nice car,” Jorge said.

According to her father, gunmen started shooting at Cynthia at a convenience store near the motel.

“As far as I know she went into a store, bought something to eat, and from there the gunmen started shooting at her,” Jorge said.

He said Cynthia got scared and drove to the motel to hide from the gunmen.

“She stayed there for a little while and when she was on her way out she thought, ‘Oh, they’re not following me anymore.’ But she was wrong. They got her at the entrance,” Jorge said.

Jorge said Mexican investigators suspected two or more gunmen were involved, but the shooters got away. Mexican authorities are not releasing any new information to Jorge or the public due to the ongoing investigation.

Jorge is now asking every Borderland family to realize the risks of traveling in Juarez and not visit the Mexican city because of the danger.

The grieving father has little faith in Mexican justice system. A 2010 study by the Monterrey Institute of Technology found 98.5 percent of all crimes in Mexico go unpunished, meaning no one is ever convicted.

The Gutierrez family is asking for the community’s help in raising funds to bring Cynthia’s body back to El Paso from Juarez. You can donate at any Bank of America branch- Account name: Cynthia Gutierrez; Account number: 004884833062