BROWNSVILLE — Local lawmen have joined the search for the man suspected of gunning down a Mexican singer in her hospital bed.

The Cameron County Sheriff’s Department is working with Mexican authorities to help identify a suspect in Zayada Peña’s killing, as well as two other deaths related to the case.

Peña, 28, was the vocalist for Zaya y Los Culpables, a moderately popular band that produced mostly romantic ballads.

She was fatally shot while recovering from a gunshot wound she received at a hotel in Matamoros on Friday. Two others that were with Peña Friday were killed in the attack, The Associated Press reported Monday.

Cameron County Sheriff’s deputy Alvaro Guerra, the liaison between county lawmen and the Tamaulipas State Police, confirmed late Monday that Mexican investigators contacted him regarding Peña’s slaying.

Police are searching for a man they believe knew the victims but have not named the suspect, Guerra said. They believe he recently bought a vehicle in Brownsville.

“That’s all the information we have so far,” Guerra said. “They are supposed to get back to me with more information, I haven’t heard from them again.”

A Mexican Web site, tamaulipasenlinea.com, is reporting that Peña was shot in the face early Saturday while recovering at El Hospital Alfredo Pumarejo. The Associated Press reported she was shot in the chest.

Sources in Mexico report the victim was involved in a love triangle with another woman, Ana Bertha Gonzalez. Gonzalez was one of the two victims killed Friday, presumably by the same man that killed Peña.

Leonardo Sanchez, an employee at the hotel where the two women were gunned down, was also killed Friday night, the Web site reported.

The Associated Press lists Peña’s death as part of a string of recent killings to strike the Mexican music community.

On Nov. 25, 2006, Valentin Elizalde was shot to death along with his manager and driver shortly after performing across the border from McAllen. Police are investigating a possible link between Elizalde’s killing and a grisly video posted online that was set to one of his songs, “To My Enemies.”

In December 2006, Javier Morales Gomez of the band Los Implacables del Norte was shot to death in a park in Michoacan, a state plagued by drug-related gun battles, killings and beheadings. Police have not spoken of a motive in that case.

In February, gunmen shot to death four members of the Banda Fugaz after they also performed in Michoacan.

And just this week on Monday, after Peña’s death, the tortured body of the lead singer of a popular Mexican band was found along a highway and another singer was shot to death, police

said.

Sergio Gomez, a singer with K-Paz de la Sierra, was tortured and killed after he was reported missing Sunday. Police have not identified a motive or suspect in that killing.