A woman who was gunned down in downtown Chapala last Sunday afternoon has been identified by local authorities as the widow of a notorious drug lord from the state of Nayarit.
The 36-year-old victim, Karla Elena Flores Sanchez, died of multiple gunshot wounds inflicted at close range shortly before 3 p.m. while she was sitting at the wheel of a late model Toyota FJ Cruiser parked at the north end of Avenida Madero. According to eyewitness accounts, she was attacked by a single gunman who opened fire after jumping off the back of a motorcycle that pulled up next to the burgundy colored SUV.
Flores was apparently holding her two year old son in her arms when the shooting occurred. Two shots aimed at the victim wounded the infant in his left thigh. An innocent bystander was hit by a stray bullet landing in her ankle.
The hit man and an accomplice who was driving the motorcycle made a quick escape, speeding out of town towards the highway to Guadalajara.Chapala Red Cross paramedics rushed the injured parties to the local clinic for emergency attention. Despite attempts to revive her, Flores expired minutes later due to at least eight impacts to the throat, chest, abdomen and lower extremities.
The female bystander was treated and sent home within two hours. The little boy was kept under close observation until 7 p.m. when he was released to the care of his adult sister.
Details of the initial crime report revealed by Ministerio Publico (MP) district attorney agent Fernando Gutierrez Santillan indicate that Flores was a native of Tepic, Nayarit currently maintaining residence in Zapopan, Jalisco.
Although the real motives that brought Flores to lakeside on the day of the crime remain under investigation, the authorities have determined that she and immediate family members stopped to shop at a Chapala department store just prior to the murder.
The victim and her young child had returned to the car only moments ahead of the killer. An older son, Albert Marquez Flores, 17, daughter Amayrani Betsabet Marquez Flores, 18, and her boyfriend, Jose Luis Lopez Rodriguez, 20, were trailing behind a block away after leaving the store loaded down with their purchases.
The body was identified by the daughter who acknowledged in a statement to the MP that her mother’s late spouse was Alberto Marquez Rosales, also known by the criminal aliases “El Albert” and “El Cero Seis” (06).
Pegged as a major kingpin in three Nayarit crime syndicates that allegedly control the state’s drug trade and protection rackets, Marquez was shot and killed on February 27 of this year in a confrontation with police near Santa Maria del Oro, about 50 kilometers north of the Jalisco state line.
Investigators will presumably dig into Flores’ activities and lifestyle looking for clues that she may have followed in the criminal footsteps of her mate or perhaps been the target of vengeance by his enemies.
They will likely try to track movements of the victim and the perpetrators by analyzing images captured by video surveillance equipment operating in the area on the day in question. However, according to Chapala police chief Reynol Contreras, the crime scene itself is beyond the scope of cameras installed at the north and south ends of Avenida Madero.