Mexico: descent into chaosAccused 14-year old Mexico hit boy an American
The 14-year old hit-man, who confessed to beheading four people on behalf of the Cartel of the South Pacific, a branch of the splintered Beltran Leyva gang, is an American citizen; the boy was born in San Diego but grew up in the city of Cuernavaca; a Mexican federal judge said the boy would be tried as a juvenile, meaning that, if convicted, he cannot be sentenced for more than three years in prison; the U.S. State Department says the United States has not yet decided what do in the matter
"El Ponchis" in Mexican Army custody // Source: guanabee.com
A 14-year-old boy known as “El Ponchis” and accused of participating in four beheadings for a Mexican drug cartel is an American citizen, the U.S. State Department said Monday. “We have confirmed the boy’s U.S. citizenship but can’t say anything more about the boy’s situation in the absence of a (provisional arrest warrant) signed by at least one of the parents,” Gini Staub, spokeswoman for the State Department, told CNN.
Morelos governor Marco Adame Castillo has said the boy was born in San Diego, California, and Mexican officials were researching whether he has dual nationality. A U.S. embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to embassy policy, said earlier that American officials had not confirmed his citizenship.
Fox News reports that a judge in Mexico had ruled Sunday the boy would be tried under a state juvenile law that carries a maximum of just three years in prison if convicted.
The juvenile court judge in the state of Morelos made the ruling after a daylong hearing on whether the federal government should handle the case because of the gravity of the allegations against the boy.
The judge said that Mexican law allows him to preside over cases involving minors facing federal charges and that the teenager will face charges of murder, organized crime, and other allegations in the state of Morelos.
After the hearing, the boy was escorted from the courthouse by fifteen state police officers. Dozens more state and federal police were stationed inside and outside the court building.
Authorities said they arrested El Ponchis on Thursday at an airport south of Mexico City with a 19-year-old sister. Mexican officials allege the boy was working for the Cartel of the South Pacific, a branch of the splintered Beltran Leyva gang. The sister has said they were headed for Tijuana, where they planned to cross the border and seek refuge with their stepmother in San Diego.
Many youths have been used by drug cartels, but the story of El Ponchis may be the most shocking. A YouTube video that emerged a month ago sparked talk of a child hit man — said by some to be as young as 12.
“I participated in four executions, but I did it drugged and under threat that if I didn’t, they would kill me,” the boy said when he was handed over to the federal prosecutor Friday.
Authorities identified the curly haired suspect only by his first name, Edgar.
Fox News reports that despite apparently being born in the United States, he grew up in a poor, urban neighborhood packed with businesses near the city of Cuernavaca, where the people who knew him said everyone called him El Ponchis since he was 4, although no one knew why.
On Saturday, a car with a speaker on its roof drove around the neighborhood narrating how the boy had been captured. The neighbors, who did not want to be quoted by name because of safety fears, remembered him as a quiet boy and said they think the allegations against him are false.
The boy’s capture, and subsequent presentation to the press, angered a Mexican children’s advocacy group that said Sunday the teen’s privacy and due process rights were violated. The group, the Children’s Rights Network said Mexican officials should not have allowed journalists to question the boy after his arrest. It is common practice in Mexico for authorities to parade adult and young suspects in significant cases before the news media.
The teen’s next court date has not been set.
