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August 06, 2024 – Mexico –
Veteran Mexican crime reporter Alejandro Alfredo Martínez Noguez, also known as “El Hijo del Llanero Solitito,” was fatally shot in Guanajuato while inside a police-escorted vehicle, in broad daylight on a highway between Celaya and Villagrán. Martínez, who hosted a highly popular Facebook page reporting on local crime, had nearly 350,000 followers and had survived a prior assassination attempt two years earlier.
Assigned municipal police bodyguards due to persistent death threats, Martínez began filming and livestreaming a recent traffic accident in Celaya minutes before the attack, criticizing poor infrastructure and urging drivers to limit their speed. However, gunmen following in a pickup truck opened fire with long guns, striking him multiple times—reportedly in the head and body—despite the presence of police protection. His bodyguards exchanged fire, wounding a stray bullet victim in another vehicle, but were unable to stop the assailants.
Martínez was transported to a hospital in Celaya but succumbed to his injuries. Two accompanying officers were injured during the assault. Authorities confirmed a formal investigation, but no arrests were reported as of early August.
International press freedom organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), UNESCO, and others, strongly condemned the killing. The CPJ emphasized the alarming circumstances: Martínez was killed “while under police protection,” calling this a “shocking example” of the dangers faced by crime reporters. Meanwhile, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay demanded a “thorough investigation” and urged officials to ensure such attacks must not go unpunished.
His death marks the third journalist killed in Mexico in 2024 and adds to a grim legacy of violence and impunity targeting reporters in the country, where over 100 media workers have been murdered since 2000. In particular, the state of Guanajuato is notorious for turf wars and cartel violence, which have made reporting on local crime especially perilous.
The murder underscores a chilling reality: even journalists protected by the state face mortal risk when confronting entrenched organized crime. Despite international pressure, Mexican authorities must now act swiftly to identify and prosecute those responsible, ensuring that this tragic case does not become yet another entry within Mexico’s ever-expanding registry of journalist murders.
