BajaNomad

Slaying witness killed outside Tijuana home

Anonymous - 3-19-2004 at 11:03 PM

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20040318-9...

By Sandra Dibble
March 18, 2004

TIJUANA ? Angelica Aguilar Navarro was a witness in July as her brother was shot to death in front of their home in an upscale hillside neighborhood.

This week, she was killed near the same spot, in much the same way, and authorities believe the killings are linked.

Aguilar, 27, was shot as she returned home at 9 p.m. Monday from her job as Tijuana marketing director for the Mexican television network TV Azteca. Police said she had just pulled into the family's carport in the Chapultepec neighborhood when a masked gunman fired repeatedly and then fled.

Aguilar had watched as her 25-year-old brother, Jorge Angel Aguilar Navarro, was killed as he walked into the family's home on Calle Zitacuaro on July 26.

Police linked that slaying to a drug trafficker, saying the brother was preparing to marry a woman who had previously dated the trafficker. The brother worked at an off-track betting establishment in the Pueblo Amigo shopping center.

Aguilar was questioned by investigators, but police said she revealed little about what she had seen, because she feared for her safety. Her brother's killing hasn't been solved, police said Tuesday.

One of Aguilar's colleagues at TV Azteca described her as "very agreeable, friendly and outgoing."

Baja California Attorney General Antonio Mart?nez Luna told the Tijuana news agency Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias on Tuesday that Angelica Navarro's shooting "is linked to the crime against her brother."

Investigators also haven't ruled out a link between her death and the arrest of six suspected drug traffickers after a March 10 shootout with police, Mart?nez Luna said.