Virginia Gómez Pérez, mother of Alexander Martínez, a 16-year-old teenager who was shot in the head by a municipal police officer in June 2020 in Acatlán de Pérez, in Oaxaca, denounced this Friday that, after more than a year of hearings and judicial processes, three judges decided to release the only police officer accused of the death of the young man.
Alexander — or “Chander,” as he was also known in Acatlán, in the border area between the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz — was a young man who played in the third division of Liga MX soccer and had aspirations to become a professional soccer player.
According to the first versions that were released shortly after the fact, Alexander had left his house to buy a soft drink in the company of three other young people, in the neighboring town of Vicente Camalote, and they were attacked with bullets from a patrol of the municipal police of Acatlán de Pérez for no reason. One of those shots hit the young man’s head and caused his death.
Hours later that day, the city of Acatlán issued a statement to lament the death, but also said that it occurred “without bad faith” but by an “accident.”
Now, Virginia Gómez denounced on the morning of this Friday, March 25, that three judges of the Trial Court of the Papaloapan Basin Region, in Oaxaca, also accepted that version that the event was due to an accident, and issued an acquittal to release the only municipal police officer accused of the death.
“We have strong outrage. The judges have just made a horrendous decision for us as family members seeking justice for Alexander. They are going to release the only one accused of the murder of my son, whose wings were cut off and his dream of being a professional footballer,” he said from Acatlán.
“We still can’t believe it,” he said. We were waiting so long for this day to arrive, in which at least one person was going to be tried for having taken the life of my child, and now we are left with that he is innocent, arguing that the shotgun fell alone on the ground, that he was shot alone, and that she alone shot my son in the head. Can you believe this injustice?”
Alexander’s Dream
On June 11, 2020, Animal Político posted a profile of Alexander.
“My son had a dream, he wanted to be a professional footballer. I went with him everywhere. I would take him to train and play his matches. I fought with him to overcome all obstacles! And look what they did to him! They killed him!” shouted Virginia Gomez on the day of her son’s death.
In an interview, Ulises Aguilar, a cousin of the victim, said that on the night of the incident Alexander and three other friends took their motorcycles to go buy soft drinks at a gas station in Vicente Camalote.
“But on the way back they ran into patrol number 23 of the municipal police of Acatlán. Witnesses to the incident said that the patrol closed the way to my cousin without knowing cause or motive. My cousin managed to dodge the patrol car, but hit the car with the tire behind the motorcycle. And out of nowhere, one of the elements began to throw at whatever he grabbed, but with an attempt at death. That is, they shot to kill.”
The police report, on the other hand, claimed that the young people had tried to circumvent the checkpoint and that what happened next was an accident.
This was published by the Veracruz newspaper El Mundo de Córdoba, which covered the news from the scene of the events: “According to the police report, the uniformed saw that some motorcycles were approaching, they marked the stop and, seeing the presence of the uniformed, the young people try to circumvent the police siege by throwing the motorcycles at them. This caused a policeman to fall and, when he slammed the gun to the ground, it was fired generating the event.”
But none of this convinced Virginia.
“The patrol car went over him because they thought my son was carrying a gun. Don’t suckle! “He exclaimed out of himself on the day of the events.” My son has never used weapons. These young people are not criminals. These young people are just children.”
Both relatives and friends and neighbors of Alexander, who left messages on social networks after his death, said that the teenager, who was studying at the Gulf of Mexico University (UGM), Orizaba campus, never had anything related to violence.
“From the first moment of the events, the police wanted to wash their hands saying that my cousin threatened them with a gun,” Ulises said. But everyone here knows that’s not true because my cousin was a very calm and healthy young man. I didn’t drink, I didn’t smoke, I didn’t use drugs, and I only had one vice: football.”
“I am one of those guys who dream big, that boy who dreams of leaving a big mark in the world of football”, could be read in the profile that wrote in the first person – as a tribute – Alexis, Alexander’s brother.
The young man’s passion for football began when he was in fifth grade. From that moment on, Ulysses said, no game or other sport interested him more than the grass court, the ball and the rival goal.
Then, time passed. And, at the same time that “Chander” grew physically to become a tall, spiked, well-planted young man, his game was also growing by leaps and bounds.
Alexander began to stand out in all the teams for which he was leaving a trail of goals. So much so that the rayados de Monterrey football club, through its subsidiary team in the Veracruz city of Tierra Blanca, set its eyes on his talent and, at only 16 years old, incorporated it into its ranks in the third division to develop it with a view to making the great leap to the first level, to professional football.
In Acatlán de Pérez, relatives and neighbors went out on the night of the event to protest to the streets and demand justice for Alexander’s death. At the same time, social media was filled with messages from his teammates, friends and family.
“I tell it, because Alexander can’t anymore,” his brother Alexis wrote on Facebook. If one day I don’t come back, go outside and shout my name. Shout for me and for everyone. He screams for the pain of those who are no longer there. Shout for those who remain. Shout my name and keep it in the depths of your heart, and remember me as the great dreamy boy I was.”
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