Video shows friends burning 16-year-old girl's body after they beat and stabbed her to death during night out
Surveillance footage obtained by authorities in western Mexico showed the horrific moment when a girl aged 16 was set on fire by two male individuals after she was brutally beaten and stabbed. The incident reportedly took place on August 22 when the victim, Danna Marian Reyes, was at a friend's home in Mexicali, Baja California. Reyes had been allegedly been stabbed inside a room by at least three people whom she believed were friends, Daily Mail reveals.
Three people have been arrested and identified as Jesús Guadalupe Mendoza, 25; Teresa Michelle Tamarillo, 23; and Kevin Jesús Toscano, 18. The authorities are currently on the lookout for a fourth suspect Jose Octavio Castillo. There had been outrage after a state prosecutor, Guillermo Ruíz, highlighted the fact that Reyes had been heavily tattooed. Ruiz spoke out on Wednesday, August 26 via a press conference after a video of the attack went viral. He said, "Sadly in Mexicali, [Saturday], a 16-year-old girl was murdered, but the girl also had tattoos everywhere."
Meanwhile, in Mexico. Surveillance footage seized by authorities in western Mexico captured the tragic moment a 16-year-old girl was set on fire by two male individuals after she was brutally beaten at a home. pic.twitter.com/9BIurFdSNb
— Tony (@Mrtdogg) August 29, 2020
"This girl we have as a victim from Mexicali had a tattoo of a machine gun or an AK-47 on her forearm and it is very serious that we do not take the precaution of taking care of adolescents," Ruiz added. His comments were met with a lot of backlash across social media platforms.
The Baja California State Human Rights Commission demanded that the prosecutor's office should not "re-victimize or stigmatize victims of crimes such as femicide" by linking "criminal conduct with body modifications such as tattoos." According to the medical examiner, Reyes' death had been caused by stab wounds to the neck as well as head trauma. 45% of the teen's body had been burned.
According to 16-year-old Jose Navarro who spoke to the prosecutor's office, the group had been smoking weed, besides taking methamphetamines, and also drinking alcohol until 2 pm when Toscano, Castillo, and Mendoza locked themselves up in a room of Mendoza's house. Navarro said that he along with another minor, Carlos Antonio Espinoza, had been sitting in the living room when Reyes had begun to scream and cry for help. One of the people in the room could be heard shouting at her, "we are not playing around, you are f*****."
Navarro added that he had attempted to leave but had been stopped in the street by Castillo who had allegedly left the house to get a gallon of gasoline. The minor shared how he was forced back inside the house by Castillo and the group threatened to kill him if he ever said anything. Navarro said that he saw a bag that allegedly contained Reyes' body wrapped up in a blanket.
In the viral video, one of the suspects is seen standing on top of a wall and dumping the body on the ground. Later on, a car arrives and the three detained individuals can be seen dragging Reyes' body before setting it on fire. The group then rushed back to the vehicle and fled the scene of the crime.