HATE CRIME

Married Lesbian Couple Tortured and Shot Dead During Family Visit to Mexico

Nohemí Medina Martínez and Yulizsa Ramírez of El Paso, Texas, were found dismembered in garbage bags on the same road in Ciudad Juárez.

A lesbian couple’s family visit to Mexico ended in tragedy when their bodies were found dismembered in two garbage bags in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez. The El Paso, Texas, married couple—Nohemí Medina Martínez and Yulizsa Ramírez—were found about 17 miles apart from each other on a stretch of the same road Sunday morning. The couple have three children, according to Chihuahua Committee for Sexual Diversity Director Karen Avizo. Avizo fears that the murders could go unsolved like most hate crimes in the Mexico’s LGBTQ community. “The concern is that authorities will absolutely do nothing,” Arvizo said. “We feel like we are treated like second-class citizens and that we really don’t matter.” Two additional bodies that had been tortured and shot were found in the town on Monday, but it remains unclear if the four murders were connected.