Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz (1972 – February 2014) was a Mexican journalist and photographer. He was murdered in February 2014 in Veracruz, which has been described as the most dangerous state for journalists in Mexico. He was at least the tenth journalist killed in Veracruz since Javier Duarte became governor 38 months earlier. At the time of Jiménez's murder, four additional journalists were missing in the state.
Career
Jiménez worked as a photographer for twenty years and became a journalist just five years before his murder. He worked as the police and crime reporter for the news agency Notisur and as a correspondent for the daily newspaper El Liberal del Sur and for other newspapers in the town of Villa de Allende. He reported on such topics as local abductions and violence toward migrants, and for security reasons sometimes used the pseudonym "The Panther." He investigated the disappearances of people in Coatzacoalcos and kidnappings in Villa Allende. In his last few months, he reported on alleged crimes at El Palmar, a bar in Coatzacoalcos owned by Teresa Hernández Cruz, including the kidnapping of Ernesto Ruiz Guillen, committed on January 18, 2014.
After his kidnapping, but before the discovery of his body, it was noted that Jiménez was among a minority of journalists who reported on murders and abductions in the region despite the very real risks of this coverage. Following his death, Ricardo Gonzalez of the free-press advocacy group Article 19 said that Jiménez' motivation was largely due to the destruction of his community he had witnessed caused by organized crime.
El Pais noted that Jiménez's murder represented the lack of respect for journalists in the country. Like many Mexican journalists, he did not receive a salary from any of the news agencies he wrote for. While working as a journalist, he had supplemented his income by continuing to work as a photographer of parties, meetings, family reunions, weddings, and graduations.
A few days before his abduction, Jiménez told a couple of colleagues: "If something happens to me, I leave to you the task of advocating for me."
His nickname was “Goyo.”
Murder
Disappearance
On February 5, 2014, Jiménez was abducted from his home in the Villa Allende district of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, by a group of masked men. He had just returned home after taking his children to school. His kidnappers forced him to get into their car and drove off. According to Jiménez's family, when the kidnappers came for him, they identified him by saying: "This is the photographer."
For a week after Jiménez's kidnapping, journalists held protests, demanding that he be found safe and sound. They chanted: "They took him alive, we want him alive." His colleagues described him as a humble and honest man who was an excellent reporter.
Discovery
On February 11, 2014, six days after he disappeared, Jiménez' body was found in a shallow grave in a "safe house" in Las Choapas, Veracruz. Also found in the grave were the remains of his friend Ernesto Ruiz Guillen, a local union leader, and of an unidentified taxi driver. Jiménez had written about Ruiz Guillen's outspoken criticism of organized crime, and had also worked as a photographer at union events under Ruiz Guillen's direction. Ruiz Guillen had disappeared before Jiménez's own abduction, and Jiménez had written about his disappearance.
After Jiménez's murder, his family was placed under the protection of the local government.
Shortly after the bodies were found, police arrested six suspects. Teresa Hernández Cruz, a bar owner and neighbor of Jiménez's in Coatzacoalcos, was considered the principal suspect. The other suspects were Santos Gonzalez Santiago, Jesus Antonio Perez Herrera, Juan Manuel Rodriguez Hernández, Gerardo Contreras Hernández and Jose Luis Marquez Hernández. Marquez Hernández, who went by the name "El Pony," was arrested at the bus terminal in Coatzacoalcos when he was preparing to leave the city, and confessed to participating in the disappearance and murder. Marquez later recanted his confession, which he said had been obtained through torture. Several of the suspects said at a February 13 hearing that they had confessed to the crime under torture by law enforcement officials.