The mayor of a town in southern Mexico was brutally murdered less than a week after he took office, as photos circulated of his severed head sitting on a pickup truck.
Alexander Arcos was killed on Sunday, just six days after he was elected the mayor of Chilpancingo, a city around 170 miles south of Mexico City with a population of around 280,000. Officials confirmed the murder from the gory photos of his decapitated head, which were shared on messaging platform WhatsApp this week.
Mayor of city in Mexico killed in apparent decapitation
Portrait of Cybele Mayes-OstermanCybele Mayes-Osterman
USA TODAY
The mayor of a town in southern Mexico was brutally murdered less than a week after he took office, as photos circulated of his severed head sitting on a pickup truck.
Alexander Arcos was killed on Sunday, just six days after he was elected the mayor of Chilpancingo, a city around 170 miles south of Mexico City with a population of around 280,000. Officials confirmed the murder from the gory photos of his decapitated head, which were shared on messaging platform WhatsApp this week.
Alejandro Arcos’ coffin was carried through the streets of Chilpancingo in a funeral procession on Monday.
On Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said investigations into Arcos’ death were underway by the secretaries of security, defense and the Marines to uncover a motive and catch those responsible.
“We are going to fortify the intelligence investigative capabilities of the Mexican government,” she told reporters.
Chilpancingo is the capital of the violence-ridden state of Guerrero, one of the deadliest for politicians and journalists. Just three days before Arcos’ killing, Francisco Tapia, the city’s new government secretary, was shot dead. And six political candidates in the state were killed in the run-up to elections in June.
