Family seeks answers in child's death

REYNOSA — The Garza family doesn’t want to see the news.

They avoid painful reminders of a shooting that killed 1-year-old Elizabeth Martínez on Saturday as she boarded a shuttle bus outside her grandmother’s house in the Huastecos de Lampazitos colonia.

“We don’t turn on the television,” Elizabeth’s grandmother, Leticia Garza, said in Spanish. “We don’t want to see anything anymore.”

Relatives huddled around a fire in Garza’s muddy back yard Tuesday, their bleary eyes watching the smoke billow toward gray skies above. Garza has little hope she will find answers about her granddaughter’s death.

“What can we do?” Garza said. “They won’t find the culprit.”

Leticia Garza’s brother, Othoniel, dismissed reports by Mexican media that quoted family members criticizing Mexican authorities for acting brashly during Saturday’s shooting.

“We read that the blame was placed on the soldiers,” he said. “But one can’t blame anyone.”

The child’s mother, Marlén Medrano, avoided visitors and buried herself under blankets to ward off the cold drizzle at Garza’s home.

“It doesn’t matter how sweetly I speak to her,” Garza said. “There’s no way to console her.”

The family said they are seeking help from the U.S. Consulate in Mexico to find answers about Elizabeth’s death. The child was born in McAllen, but lived in Reynosa with her family.

But few details have emerged days after the shooting.

“(Authorities) don’t say anything,” Garza said. “Regardless, (Elizabeth) isn’t coming back.”

Garza shook her head as she remembered the day of the shooting. Witnesses refused to help Elizabeth’s mother as she held the girl’s tiny, bleeding body, she said.

“In that moment, you realize there are no friends,” Garza said. “Nobody wants to get close.”

Still, she understands why people would hesitate to come forward in such a violent moment.

“It’s the fear,” Garza said.

Garza said the child’s death occurred on the same day the girl’s great grandmother died last year. Elizabeth was even buried on the same day as the woman.

“What kind of Christmas is this?” Garza said. “It’s hard.”

Officials with the Tamaulipas state police refused to provide new information about the shooting via telephone late Tuesday evening “due to the discretion of the incident.”

The attorney general’s office in Mexico City released a statement Monday defending the country’s military actions, although officials said it was not a response to the family’s reported criticism.

“We have received many complaints of the military,” said Zunem Sánchez, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, adding that the department saw a spike in complaints following reports on the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, whose members purportedly killed the family of a Mexican marine who died in a raid that killed a top drug lord.

“Recently there have been attempts to devalue the actions of the Mexican military in relation to their fight against organized crime,” the statement reads. “However, without the collaboration of the Mexican Defense Ministry, it would be very difficult for the Justice Department to meet the objectives specified by (President Felipe Calderón).”

Sánchez said he could not stipulate what exactly prompted the attorney general’s office to release the statement, adding that the government hoped to address complaints about the deaths of innocent bystanders during shootouts involving the military.

Arturo Beltrán Leyva was one of the most-wanted drug lords in Mexico and the United States. He was the biggest trafficker taken down by Calderón's administration so far, and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials blame his cartel for much of the bloodshed across Mexico.

The armed forces have led Calderón’s fight against organized crime. More than 15,000 people have been killed by drug violence since the crackdown began in 2006.

--

Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.