Teenager identified as killer of assassinated Mexican mayor

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By Lizbeth Diaz

MEXICO CITY -A 17-year-old boy has been confirmed as the perpetrator of the deadly shooting of Carlos Manzo, mayor of the Mexican city of Uruapan, during a public event in the state of Michoacan over the weekend, the state prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.

Forensic tests confirmed that teenager Victor Manuel Ubaldo, who died after being gunned down by security forces at the scene in an attempt to repel the attack against Manzo, carried out the execution. Ubaldo was identified by his relatives on Wednesday.

The Michoacan state prosecutor’s office said additional individuals were involved in the incident.

“It is important to reiterate that the forensic examinations performed on Victor Manuel’s body, in particular the sodium rhodizonate test, were positive, confirming the hypothesis of material authorship,” prosecutor Carlos Torres said in a message to the press, adding that the homicide is likely linked to organized crime groups. 

The same tests, Torres added, revealed that the young man frequently consumed methamphetamine. 

His relatives confirmed Ubaldo left home a week before the attack, he added.

Experts told Reuters that criminal groups in Mexico increasingly train and use minors, generally from violent and neglected homes, to commit crimes.

A government report on recruitment by drug cartels published last year said minors as young as six have joined organized crime and highlighted the use of video games and social media to target them.

Human rights advocates say the number of vulnerable children in Mexico who are susceptible to recruitment by criminal organizations could reach 200,000.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Daniel Wallis)