Prominent Businessman Killed In Juarez
JUAREZ, Mexico – Violence in Juarez continued over the weekend, whenat leasttwenty people were killed, one of those people wasa prominent businessman.
ABC-7 reporter Celina Avila sat down with the family of Willy Moya, the slain owner of a number of restaurants and bars in Juarez.
Moya wasbehind several popular night spots, including Ajuua’s and Frida’s.
His ex-wife told ABC-7, he was much more than a successful businessman.
“We were friends absolutely. We had our child together,” saidAdeline Rogers while sitting in her ex-husband’s west El Paso home.
She is the mother of one of 48-year-old Willy Moya’s three sons.
“The future of Juarez was very important to him. He worked constantly to make it a better place,” she said.
Moya, an American citizen, owned several restaurants and night-clubs in the Pronaf area in Juarez. That’s where he was gunned down early Sunday morning at about 4 a.m., whilecoming out of his club, the “V-bar”.
“He tried his best to make the nicest restaurants and clubs to go to because he was very proud of where he came from,” Rogers said. “He wanted people to come to Juarez and enjoy the good things about Juarez. The restaurants, the clubs, the atmosphere, the culture.”
She saidthe violence in Juarez never deterred Moya from trying to makeit a place people could be proud of.
But she said Moya recently mentioned the violence had never been this bad.
“He was concerned and he had cut down on his visits to his businesses,” shesaid.
According to Rogers, theviolence isn’t only affecting those directly involved in the organized crime but also people in the business sector.
“Everyone’s at stake. Anyone who has any sort of position or any type of authority,” she said.”It’s an all out war. It is a war and it’s happening right across the border.”
Rogers said this violence is everyone’s problem.
Monday the Juarez Mayor named a new police chief and challenged anyone who didn’t like it, to leave. The new chief is a retired military Major with the Mexican Army.
