Head of Ciudad Juarez's Female Prison Murdered Outside Her Home

“MX” for Borderland Beat

Noelia Gonzalez Rodriguez, the head of Ciudad Juarez’s female penitentiary, was killed outside her home last week. Police reports say that when Noelia got to her car to head to work that morning, unknown assailants walked up behind her and shot her multiple times. She was sent alive to a nearby hospital but succumbed to her wounds before medical intervention.

Security forces were called to the scene when gunfire was heard. Members of the Attorney General’s Office in Chihuahua were the first to arrive and cordoned the area. The Mexican Army, National Guard, and both state and municipal police forces implemented an operation to find those responsible for the attack.

The head of Chihuahua’s Public Security Agency (SSPE), Emilio García Ruiz, condemned Noelia’s murder and thanked her for her 8 years of service in Ciudad Juarez’s female penitentiary. The SSPE said that they will provide full support to the victim’s family and help them with education and medical expenses.

The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Women (FEM) said that they do not have any leads and motives for the murder.

“So far there are no signs that Noelia received death threats, but the investigation is still in its early stages,” the prosecutor said last week.

The report that the SSPE received mentioned that an eyewitness to the murder said that the perpetrators were two subjects who were wearing white and dark green sweatshirts, respectively. They said that the assassins fled in two vehicles. No one has been arrested yet.

Noelia, of approximately 42 years old, was the mother of three children: a female teenager and two younger boys.

“This incident suddenly becomes sadder because she leaves her children. We are mothers and we feel it a lot, there are no words to describe this. These are very difficult times. We also feel afraid, really, because you do not know when you may be exposed to violence,” one of Noelia’s neighbors told reporters at the scene.

According to figures from the State Attorney General’s Office, a total of 34 women have been murdered so far in Ciudad Juarez alone. 17 in January, 14 in February and three in March.

Borderland Beat analysis

Noelia’s murder was carried out near her home in Villas del Salvárcar, a working class neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez that garnered international attention in 2010 for mass murder of 15 people in a neighborhood party. The victims ranged between the ages of 15 and 20. To this day, this mass murder is widely regarded as a major “turning point” in the government’s approach to security in Ciudad Juarez.

As shown in a map provided by Borderland Beat, there are two gangs that operate in or near Villas de Salvarcar: Los Mexicles and Gente Nueva.

Los Mexicles was originally a street gang that worked under the Sinaloa Cartel, but state officials confirmed in 2019 that they are currently working with La Linea, the former armed wing of the old Juarez Cartel. Gente Nueva continues to be the biggest Sinaloa Cartel faction in Ciudad Juarez and the rest of Chihuahua.

Sources: Noticias en la Mira; Tiempo (1); (2); Diario de Juarez (1); (2)