MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A distant relation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was killed in the leader’s home city of Atlacomulco in the state of Mexico, the state prosecutors and president’s offices said on Tuesday.

The prosecutors office confirmed that Maximino Montiel Pena was shot dead at the weekend, but did not give further details and the exact circumstances were unclear. Pena Nieto’s office confirmed that Montiel was a distant cousin of the president.

The importance of the city of Atlacomulco to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) gave rise to the “Atlacomulco Group,” which has produced seven governors of the state, including Pena Nieto himself.

Alfredo del Mazo, the currently governor of the state of Mexico, is another distant cousin of Pena Nieto’s who came from the same group.

The state, which surrounds Mexico City, has become one of the most violent amid a wave of killings in the country. Last year more than 2,300 people were murdered in the state, five percent more than the previous year.