Alicia Diaz Gonzalez was found dead at her home in Monterrey, having apparently been severely beaten.

Journalist Alicia Diaz Gonzalez was found dead on Thursday at her home in Monterrey, northern Mexico, having apparently been severely beaten.

Diaz Gonzalez “was on the floor, face down, in a pool of blood having suffered blows,” a source from the Nuevo Leon state prosecutor’s office told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

The attack took place between 8:00am (13:00GMT) and 10:00am (15:00GMT) local time on Thursday in Colonia Paseo Residencial in Monterrey.

“She was found inside her house at around 10:00 am next to her children, who were resting on the second floor of the building [when the incident took place],” the Nuevo Leon state prosecutor said on Twitter.

The 52-year-old reporter’s death was confirmed by El Financiero newspaper, where she had worked since January. Editor Mauricio Mejia called for an “urgent … official response” on social media.

Translation: Her name was Alicia Diaz Gonzalez, she was beaten to death in her house in Monterrey. Until when? Enough of impunity, we want the state to guarantee our security. (Sanjuana Marinez a journalist wrote)

https://twitter.com/SanjuanaMtz/status/999799718182928384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Diaz Gonzalez was found by her son, Eduardo Andres, 20, who said he did not hear anything, and he realised next morning when he saw his dead mother on the floor.

The authorities said that all lines of investigation were open.

The National Commission on Human Rights also called on the authorities of Nuevo Leon to guarantee the life, safety and personal integrity of Gonzalez family.

La Fiscalía informa: pic.twitter.com/pwR9BNpnPs — Fiscalía Nuevo León (@FiscaliaNL) May 25, 2018

Unpunished crimes

Earlier this month, radio journalist Juan Carlos Huerta was shot dead as he left his home in a suburb of Villahermosa in southeast Mexico.

“They went to execute him,” Tabasco Governor Arturo Nunez Jimenez said at a news conference at the time, clarifying initial speculation that the shooting may have been robbery.

His murder took place one year after journalist Javier Valdez, who received international recognition for his coverage of drug trafficking, was shot dead in his native Culiacan, Sinaloa, where powerful cartels operate.

He was pulled from his car on May 15, 2017, and shot 12 times.

At least five journalists, including Diaz Gonzalez, have been murdered in Mexico so far in 2018. At least two were killed as a direct result of their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

During the presidency of President Enrique Pena Nieto, which began in 2012, at least 42 journalists were murdered and there have been about 2,000 attacks on reporters, according to the organisation Article 19.

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist with more than 100 reporters killed since 2000. Most of those crimes remain unpunished.