Source La Jornada

Chihuahua, Chih., Hired assassins killed Otilia Martínez Cruz, 60, and her son Gregorio Chaparro Cruz, 20, in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo, on the outskirts of Chihuahua and Sinaloa.

The victims were defenders of the forests and the environment and were relatives of Julián Carrillo Martínez, rarámuri indigenous leader and defender of the forest of the Coloradas de la Virgen,an  area adjacent to El Chapote and also located in the section of Baborigame, in the same municipality.

Mother and son were found dead on Wednesday afternoon outside their home in the town El Chapote, Baborigame area, with multiple bullet wounds.

According to the investigation, three gunmen belonging to the criminal group “Los Chorohuis” broke into their home and shot them. Six bullet casings of 7.62 x 39 calibre, plus one .223 calibre, were found at the scene of the crime, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

The authority reported that it has identified the perpetrators.Julián  Carrillo Martínez  was allegedly killed by loggers, despite having been provided protection by the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders.

Julian Carrillo was the main instigator of a legal case, filed by their community, to request the annulment of forest harvesting permits, which the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources had granted to mestizo settlers in the indigenous territory of Baborigame.