Police: Suspect ordered killings of 11 inside Juarez home as payback for son’s murder

Police in Ciudad Juarez arrested eight people, including several alleged hit men, suspected in connection with the recent killing of 11 people inside a home in South Juarez.

Police said Friday the eleven victims were strangled with a tourniquet and no weapons were used in the killings.

The Juarez city government said Monday the eight suspects were arrested for drug crimes, but added the suspects are believed to be implicated in the killings on August 3, 2018.

Officials identified the suspects as 45-year-old Rene H. C. aka “El Rene,” 22-year-old Karina Rubí P. V., 20-year-old Rosa Evelyn V. A., 36-year-old Daniel Q. C., 20-year-old Leslie Yeraldin B. C., 32-year-old Diego Armando J. R., 23-year-old Irving Abdul L. M. and 45-year-old Martín Alberto F. G.

Police said Rene, Karina Rubí and Rosa Evelyn were arrested Monday when a police inspection allegedly led to the discovery of a small load of heroin inside the vehicle they were riding in.

Following the arrests, the female suspects allegedly confessed to the killing of the eleven people inside the South Juarez home, say they were following Rene’s orders. Rene was allegedly seeking vengeance for the murder of his son, the women said.

Police said Rene recently joined Los Aztecas after the killing of his son and ordered the assassinations after members of the “Artistas Asesinos” allegedly kidnapped and dismembered his son on May 28, 2018. Police said the victim, identified as Jonathan Rene Hernández Perez, was involved in drug trafficking along with his father and mother-in-law, Karina Rubí.

Nearly 100 state security agents were deployed to the border city after the mass killing to reinforce local security. Authorities previously speculated the killings could have been the result of a dispute between criminal gangs La Linea and Los Aztecas.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE