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[NEWS UPDATED ON 24/1]

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico—Nohemi and Yulitza had been a couple for years, lived in El Paso, Texas, had three children, and shared glimpses of their daily lives on social media. The couple was murdered. Their dismembered bodies were found on the Juárez-Porvenir highway in Chihuahua on Sunday, January 16.

Currently, two people are detained - a woman and a man - for kidnapping and femicide, Wendy Chávez, the prosecutor specializing in attention to women victims of crime based on gender, told Presentes.

The arraignment hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial will be held on January 28. Chávez stated that the double femicide was investigated using the protocol applied to hate crimes (attempts were made to uncover any threats or problems the victims may have faced as lesbians). "But nothing has been found in that regard, so another line of investigation has been strengthened, linking the two victims to organized crime," Chávez added.

The prosecutor stated that it was classified as femicide because Nohemí and Tania (known as Yulizsa) were mutilated and their bodies displayed in public.

Karla Arvizo, president of the Chihuahua Sexual Diversity Committee, indicated that in addition to being a double femicide, there are elements that suggest it is a hate crime motivated by lesbophobia, a situation that is repeated time and time again in this state. 

"An excessively violent crime"

Just one day earlier, Nohemí Medina had posted motivational images and songs on her Facebook account. Media reports indicate that this was the last time she and her partner, Yulizsa, were seen alive. 

“It was an extremely violent crime, and based on the circumstances, it appears to be a hate crime because there were sexual assaults. That's why we are considering it, in addition to the two femicides, as a hate crime due to sexual diversity,” he stated. 

Before both women were identified, the governor of Chihuahua, Maru Campos, spoke about this crime and assured that it will not go unpunished, because the discovery coincided with her visit to the area to report on security strategies. 

“We saw it just now at the Security Meeting; it is a fact that we deeply regret and that will not go unpunished. We just asked the State Attorney General to identify these two bodies so we can find out what happened. We are investigating (…) so as governor and also as a woman, I have said it, I have promised it, and we have been working in Ciudad Juárez, we are not going to let this matter go unpunished and we are not going to stop working on prevention above all else,” she stated.

The Network of Lesbian Mothers in Mexico, through a statement, demanded that the justice that was promised actually exists. 

“We demand an immediate investigation into the tragic events that occurred in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, as well as the promise made by Governor Maru Campos. We also extend our deepest condolences to the families of both women, wishing their two daughters and son strength and peace during this difficult time,” the statement circulated on social media reads. 

Lawlessness in Chihuahua

Arvizo indicated that one problem for true justice is that hate crimes based on sexual diversity are not contemplated in the laws of Chihuahua, so it is not possible to judge them. 

“We are very behind, very behind in this type of law. If it is already difficult to solve a femicide, treating it as lesbophobia is even more so,” she told Presentes. 

In that regard, he indicated that they are working on the necessary proposals to have it included in the law, but they hope that things will move quickly once matters are resolved after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to the National Observatory of Hate Crimes against LGBT people, in 2021 there were 6 murders and 1 disappearance, while in 2020 there were 8 murders.