A trans woman who owned a LGBTI bar in Mexico is one of 14 dead. Armed assailants stormed a family gathering, believed 52nd birthday celebrations of a woman.

Known as ‘La Becky’, she owned the La Esquina del Chacal bar in Minatitlán, in the southeastern state of Veracruz.

Masked assailants stormed the family gathering on Friday night (19 April), killing 13 adults and a one-year-old child. They wounded a further four people.

The Veracruz Public Security forces (SSP) said the assailants raided the party allegedly looking for ‘La Becky’.

‘Federal and state forces have set up a search operation for those responsible, through checkpoints and security filters at points close to the site,’ it said in a statement.

‘The SSP expresses its condolences to the families of the victims and their solidarity with the wounded.

‘Likewise, it asks the Attorney General of the State to carry out the pertinent investigations to find those responsible for this unfortunate event that will devastate the Veracruz’ society.’

Minatitlán massacre

Locals have described the shooting as one of the worst acts of violence in Veracruz.

Witnesses described the assailants as very violent, even reportedly shooting victims repeatedly.

‘Those who were crouched were told to turn to see, and the dead were shot again, they told you to look at them, you did it and they shouted at you to turn around, it was horrible, horrible, I had never seen so much hate in my life, so much evil in the hearts of men,’ said one witness.

Another witness said: ‘Those who were killed were still beaten and shot, even the baby was shot again several times… the shooting will have lasted about 20 minutes, but it was eternal for me.’

Mexico remains one of the most deadly places for trans women in the world. In 2018, more than 70 trans people were murdered in Mexico. It came only second to Brazil for the highest trans murder rate in 2018.