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Good afternoon, my name is Marisela Escobedo Ortiz.
I'm Rubí Marisol Fraire Escobedo's mother.
I'm no longer afraid of anything.
I'm no longer afraid of death, which is the worst that could happen to me.
I've faced the authorities, I've faced the governor,
I've faced anyone and everyone I've come across.
Wherever my daughter may be,
I want her to know that I love her,
and that I'll never rest until she gets justice.
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY
I wouldn't wish my wail of pain on anyone else.
Ciudad Juárez has been named the world's most dangerous city.
Being a woman in this city seems to carry a death sentence.
My daughter is gone now,
but I'm here to speak for her and defend her rights.
MURDERER MAXIMUM SENTENCE
WE DEMAND JUSTICE
Thousands across the country have joined her search.
He'll never sleep peacefully.
Even if it takes me a lifetime, I'm going to find him.
The men who are used to inflicting violence on women
will learn that sentences aren't only written on paper.
REWARD $250,000
My name is Juan Manuel Fraire Escobedo.
I'm 42 years old.
I'm from Ciudad Juárez.
MARISELA ESCOBEDO'S SON
I'm the son of Marisela Escobedo.
We were seven in my family.
My mom, my dad, Rubí, Pablo, Jessica, Alejandro, and myself.
From youngest to oldest.
Why don't you say a few words for your son?
I'm very happy, God bless him, and I wish him every joy.
That's it, don't get crazy.
Our family was very close.
If I had to go to work, my oldest daughter would cook,
and the boys would look after their sisters,
because I worked nights as a nurse.
I love all my siblings,
but Rubí was the youngest, she was the baby of the house.
I took her everywhere with me, because both my parents worked.
MARISELA ESCOBEDO'S SON
Rubí was very happy-go-lucky.
She was the youngest, so we used to sing songs for her.
We kept singing as she got older, just to annoy her.
She was wholesome, smart,
beautiful in my eyes and the eyes of many others.
And then, you know, she hit puberty.
My mom had just opened a woodshop and furniture store.
MONGE WOODS AND MATERIALS
So, this guy showed up one day looking for a job.
He had a wife and a daughter, and he needed to work.
My mom told him that she wasn't hiring,
but she wanted to help him, so she let him work for the day.
So, he stayed to work.
That guy was Sergio.
My nieces were studying over in El Paso.
MARISELA'S SISTER
But one summer, Rubí moved back with my sister in Ciudad Juárez.
My daughter used to go everywhere with me.
She'd hang out sometimes at the furniture store.
That's how she met this man, Sergio Rafael Barraza.
At the time, Sergio must've been eight or nine years older than her.
He was 20 or 21 years old, while Rubí was only 13.
I objected to the relationship.
I consulted an attorney,
but I knew she'd never sign any kind of affidavit against him.
Eventually, he took her to live with him.
He made her stay in the apartment all day long,
therefore isolating her from the rest of the family.
I balked at the fear that my daughter would hate me
if I came between her and the man she loved.
At that point, I decided not to get involved,
but we agreed that her siblings would keep in contact with her.
I always got along with him and tried to be his friend.
We wanted better for our sister, but she'd chosen him.
You have to stay out of other people's lives.
Sometime later, Rubí got pregnant. One or two years later.
Her pregnancy connected her with my mom again.
The girl was born,
but this guy was unemployed, it was clear he was struggling.
So my mom helped them out.
She started to drop by the house and leave long after dark.
I figured they probably had some money problems,
because she made sure she ate every meal at my place.
Every night, I'd give her money, maybe 50 or 80 pesos.
I immediately lent them an apartment I used for storage.
I cleared it out and told them they could stay there.
Apparently, everything was fine.
One day, I went to the apartment where they were staying…
and they were gone.
My mom went looking for her at Sergio's mother's place.
We went to the house,
and found Sergio there with their daughter.
But Rubí wasn't there.
Alarm bells went off right there. Rubí would never leave her kid.
Sergio came to the door, I asked him about my daughter,
and he said she had left with some other guy.
No way she would've left with a guy, so I asked him for a name.
He wouldn't tell us.
We weren't getting anywhere, so we decided to leave.
We came back the next day,
and Sergio wasn't there. He was gone.
I had a really bad feeling.
Something wasn't right.
DECEMBER 2008
Being her mother, I immediately started to search for her.
Red flags were going up. Something had happened to her.
These are all connected to organized crime.
President Felipe Calderón claims Mexico isn't a failed state,
despite the drug cartels' growing power.
Officers from Chihuahua's General Prosecutors' office
conducted raids on bars and cafeterias in Ciudad Juárez.
Three men were arrested on charges of human trafficking,
who forced women…
Juárez has a big problem with missing women.
So, that was very much a possibility.
HOTEL
When we started searching for Rubí,
we spent many nights scouting the bars downtown,
all the brothels.
We found girls as young as 14, 15, 16 working at those places…
as prostitutes.
We searched everywhere.
At times, we ended up in really dangerous places.
I was hoping to find her.
I wanted to find her in one of those places.
But there was no sign of her.
It took my mom a month and a half to be able to file a police report.
The cops insisted she had left.
They said there were no signs of foul play.
I was under constant stress. The whole thing was an ordeal.
STATE INVESTIGATION AGENCY MISSING PERSONS UNIT
I started all of if by myself, the searches and inquiries.
I had to stumble, struggle, and jump through hoops,
just to be able to file a missing person report.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF STATE OF CHIHUAHUA NORTH AREA
I spoke with the relatives, I'll talk to you later.
-Will you give an interview? -Yes, sure.
I served as District Attorney for the state of Chihuahua
from 2004 to 2010.
We had a missing persons unit…
CHIHUAHUA DISTRICT ATTORNEY - (2004-2010)
…so we opened an investigation to try to find Rubí.
At the beginning of February, there was an initiative
to circulate flyers with photos of the missing women at the time.
SAFE CORRIDOR FOR WOMEN
REWARD $1,500,000
My family and I heard about it and decided to join them.
We brought our own flyers, dispersed, and handed them out.
HELP US FIND HER
We went to the 16 de Septiembre neighborhood,
where Sergio Rafael Barraza lived,
and offered a reward to anyone who had any information
about Rubí's disappearance.
I would tell my mom, "Someone will speak up."
"If something happened, someone will speak up."
One day, we got a call from a young man,
saying that he had information about what had happened to Rubí.
This young man was from Sergio's neighborhood.
He called my mom and asked her if they could meet in person,
because he had to give her some important information.
We were afraid to meet him, thinking it could be dangerous
because of the reward we were offering.
He got in the truck, scared out of his mind,
and told us to drive away.
He asked if I was Rubí's mom, and I said yes.
His jaw was trembling, that's how nervous he was.
He said, "What I have to say is really awful."
Then, he started talking.
He was with a group of friends
hanging out in the neighborhood.
Sergio Rafael showed up, looking agitated.
He wanted someone to help him haul some furniture.
He said that Sergio's brother, Andy Alonso Barraza Bocanegra,
and some other guy went to help him.
Hours later, Sergio's brother returned and told everyone…
"My brother," he said. "He killed his girlfriend, Rubí."
Sergio Rafael came back soon after,
so the guys asked him if it was true.
"Yeah," he said, "I killed her."
"We dumped her body at the landfill."
"I put her in a garbage drum,
and I burned her."
I asked the boy why he was telling me all this.
He explained that his sister had been murdered,
so his mom urged him to be brave and speak up.
My mom gathered all of us,
and she told us the news with tears in her eyes.
It was a rude awakening.
We finally knew what happened, but now we had to find proof.
He was reluctant, but my mom talked him into giving a statement.
She got him to testify.
When he finally agreed to do it, things started moving.
A case was formally opened, and agents were assigned.
It wasn't until this happened that they took it seriously
and finally started to search for my daughter's body.
I kept breathing down their necks
because I was sure that without me there, no one would do anything for her.
With this new information, they did a formal search
to try to find Rubí's remains.
Our family did the first search,
together with our friends who brought more volunteers.
Always with a glimmer of hope that it was all a lie.
It's an area where people dump bones and animal fat from pigs and cows.
It's a dump for animal waste and scraps.
It was really rough on me, really rough,
but my sister looked so strong.
I wasn't going to stop until I found her.
We did not find anything.
Not even a clue that would tell us
that my sister was there.
You can't have a murder investigation without a body.
Marisela knew that the only one who had any information…
LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE ESCOBEDO FAMILY
…about what happened to Rubí, the location of her body,
and her grandkid's whereabouts was Sergio.
But he went into hiding, he was on the run.
My mom was the one who found him.
It wasn't the authorities, it was all thanks to her research.
Someone sold the information to my mom.
The phone number of the house he was living in.
So, two days later, they were on their way to Fresnillo.
It was my mom, her partner, my uncle Ricardo, and four agents.
She accused him of illegally taking her granddaughter.
By law, he needed Rubí's permission, and she was still considered alive.
So, it was a case of a man crossing state lines with a minor.
Sergio was arrested for the abduction of a minor,
but he immediately told the police,
"I know why you arrested me. It's about Rubí."
"It wasn't me, I didn't kill her."
Chihuahua police found and arrested Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra,
who confessed to the murder of Rubí Marisol.
The detectives were professional and highly trained
and they got him to reveal the location of Rubí's remains.
They brought Sergio back to Ciudad Juárez.
He confessed he had killed her and dumped her by Camino Real,
near a landfill.
The alleged murderer of Rubí Marisol
led the authorities to the location of her charred remains.
We had already searched for Rubí's body everywhere,
but we didn't find anything until he pinpointed the location.
They canvassed the area,
and they finally found Rubí's remains.
If Sergio hadn't led the cops there, we never would've found her.
Even to this day, we never would've found her.
Much later, we found out…
that three days before the murder, Rubí had left him for good.
I think Rubí had finally realized
he wasn't the man she thought he was.
She told him she was leaving him, so he killed her.
He killed her.
After this search,
I spent days walking around that whole area by myself,
trying to find one more piece of my daughter's body.
That day marks a "before" and an "after" for me.
Seeing my mother there, picking up the bones.
We found a little bone of hers, I think it was a vertebrae.
A tiny bone, that's all.
Those were horror-filled days.
I realized that if anything happened to me,
this man would end up back on the streets.
I couldn't understand why that had to be my sister's grave.
Violent crimes against women are out of control in Ciudad Juárez.
The issue of the missing women
first gained visibility in the '90s.
Later, they came to be known as "the Dead Women of Juarez,"
because the concept of "femicide" wasn't fully understood back then,
along with its meaning and underlying substance.
The case files opened over a decade ago
remain unsolved to this day.
The history of Juarez is also the ongoing history
of femicide, which does not stop.
JUSTICE
After Sergio's arrest,
Marisela was granted custody of her granddaughter.
The trial was set to begin.
He was to be the first woman killer to be tried under this new system.
What many in Mexico don't know is that the adversarial system
was first implemented in Chihuahua to combat impunity in femicides.
And one of these cases was Rubí's.
My mom used to tell me, "I won't let Rubí become a statistic."
"Even if it takes me a lifetime, I won't let that happen."
One week before, she started marching from the Prosecutor's Office…
to the city courthouse.
Wounded by the grim murder of her daughter by her son-in-law,
Marisela Escobedo Ortiz undertook protest walks for over a week,
demanding they throw the book at the alleged murderer.
-What are your demands? -Maximum sentence for the killer.
I won't settle for a lesser sentence.
He didn't only kill my daughter, he destroyed a family.
He left my grandchild without a mom, and denied my daughter's right to live.
MAXIMUM SENTENCE
-Another day, ma'am? -Yes, another day.
-How many days to go? -Two days, until Friday.
Now it's time for the trial, scheduled for Monday at 10:00.
APRIL 2010
My name is Noel Rodríguez. I'm with the Prosecutor's Office.
I worked on the investigation and presented arguments at the trial…
PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
…for the case of Rubí Marisol Fraire Escobedo.
All rise for the judges.
We went into the courthouse,
and all I remember is it was full of cameras.
Sergio's family was seated on one side of the room,
and Marisela's on the other, as well as supporters like us.
The witnesses were called to testify according to their involvement,
starting with the testimony of Mrs. Marisela Escobedo.
Do you know why you were called to testify before this court?
Yes, I do.
WITNESS
I'm here to testify to the murder of my daughter, Rubí Marisol Fraire.
I have full confidence in you.
I trust you'll study this case and make the right decision.
Then, we heard the testimony of the local cops involved in the case.
MUNICIPAL POLICE AGENT
We responded to a call from central dispatch
telling us to go to Delicias Station to see to a complainant.
Upon interviewing him, he revealed that
his stepson had come to his house
in a state of agitation,
because he had just killed his wife.
Do you remember the name of this complainant?
Rafael Gómez.
After Sergio Rafael committed the crime, he asked for help to move the body.
To that end, he borrowed a vehicle that belonged to his stepfather.
When his stepfather got home and found out what happened,
he decided to inform the police.
When you talked to the police, what did you tell the agents?
SERGIO'S STEPFATHER
-Only that he'd hit her. -Who had hit whom?
That Sergio had hit Rubí. The cops went there to check,
but they didn't find anyone at their address.
That's all I know. I don't know anything else.
It was clear he amended his testimony
in order to cover up for and favor his stepson.
We cross-examined him to poke holes in his story,
and it was clear that his intervention was aimed at aiding his stepson.
Will the Defense cross-examine?
-Yes. -Go ahead.
JUDGE
-You went into the house, right? -That's right.
-You didn't find a body, right? -That's right.
-Did you find any blood? -Blood? No.
PUBLIC DEFENDER
-Did you check the whole house? -We did.
-Did you find any bullet casings? -No.
-The defense rests. -Thank you, counselor.
The confidential witness testified
that Sergio showed up that day
and told them he'd taken the life of his live-in girlfriend.
-Please state your full name. -Angel Gabriel Valles Maciel.
What else can you tell us about this sequence of events?
Sergio told us he'd killed his wife.
That he burned her.
And that he and his brother took her over by Camino Real,
beyond the landfill.
How did you learn about this?
He told us.
We were sitting around a fire and he told us what he'd done.
Then, the forensic anthropology and archaeology experts
corroborated the statements made by the confidential witness.
FORENSIC ARCHAEOLOGIST
The bones are human.
They belong to a single individual, a young female.
Did you find any signs of violence on these bones?
Yes, we did.
The fire, the position the bones were found in.
This is a very particular case.
All right, thank you.
You may address the court if you wish, ma'am.
Please lean close to the mic if you wish to speak.
-You have the floor. -Good morning, Your Honor.
-Good morning. -Yes, I wish to say a few words.
Go ahead.
I apologize if my gaze wanders towards Mr. Rafael Barraza,
Sergio Rafael Barraza, since I have to address him.
This man, Your Honor, took the life of my daughter.
First, he used deception to take her away,
to keep her under his yoke.
Today, I am full of regret for not taking her away from him.
It would've been easier for me to deal with her hatred
only temporarily, though, because she'd get over it,
than to live under the burden of this pain, Your Honor.
JUDGE
I searched for her, Your Honor, expecting to find her buried,
because I thought that this man had loved her,
and that he'd buried her somewhere he could mourn her.
But he didn't.
He dumped her and burned her.
He cast her like pearls to swine.
You know what, Sergio? I don't forgive you.
May God forgive you.
That is, if you ever feel remorse, because I know you haven't yet.
We don't know, Your Honor, the actual cause of death,
but I'm glad because I'm not sure I could stand that other pain.
Let him keep it.
Don't let him give a statement, we've had enough of his trash.
I know that one day, we'll get better.
One day, we'll finish therapy.
One day, we'll smile again, because life demands it.
This man hasn't destroyed my life.
He destroyed my heart, my hope, my faith and my beliefs.
But I will pull through for my granddaughter.
After today, like I said, this man no longer exists for me.
I leave him to you. Thank you very much.
We thank Mrs. Marisela Escobedo Ortiz.
The law affords the same right to Mr. Sergio Barraza Bocanegra.
Please lean closer to the mic. You have the floor. Go ahead.
Please lean as close as you can to the microphone.
Okay, I'll say something.
I know, this is for Mrs. Marisela,
that the pain caused can't be undone.
I know that she has said she doesn't forgive me.
But I want to apologize, Marisela, because I know it was a great harm.
It's true, like you said, where was God?
Unfortunately, I didn't know God, but I've now found God in jail.
And…
I have no words. That's all.
We thank everyone who took part in this trial.
The debate portion is hereby concluded.
The court will now deliberate in private,
and the parties will reconvene for the verdict reading
at precisely 1330 in this same courtroom.
CHIHUAHUA STATE JUDICIARY
DELIBERATION ROOM
We went outside for the recess.
We were all saying that justice would prevail.
RUBÍ HAD A RIGHT TO LIFE
COURTROOM 1
We got back into the courtroom and the judges read their verdict.
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, April 29th, 2010.
The court has convened and reached the following decision…
The court unanimously acquits Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra
of the accusation against him as the perpetrator…
-Bravo! -Bravo!
Rubí!
"Here's to many more! God bless you."
It's from Alejandra, Valeria, Paty, and Toño.
Your godparents.
My mom was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico.
That's where she met my dad and they got married.
She went to nursing school.
When she finished school,
she was offered a job at the new state hospital
that had been built in Ciudad Juárez. That's why we moved there.
And that's when our family started growing.
My sister was always happy.
She loved to dance and she loved music.
I could always make her laugh.
My mom was a go-getter, very hardworking.
If she saw an opportunity, she would go for it.
She was always aware of her kids,
how we were doing, what we were up to.
MARISELA'S FRIEND
She was a generous person, she was very…
She was a go-getter. Nothing stood in her way.
She could sell brimstone to the devil and snow to an Eskimo.
One time, we decided to throw a kids' costume party.
She had everyone in stitches.
It was the way she looked and acted so natural.
She was wearing a wig, a big nose, and clown make up.
It was a wonderful party, the children had a blast.
Mari had three boys, but she always wanted a girl.
She always wanted a girl.
Eventually, Rubí and Jessica came into her life,
and her life changed forever.
She never looked happier.
In this photograph, here's Rubí and Marisela.
This was the last vacation we took with Rubí.
With my niece, you know?
We went to Acapulco.
We were planning Rubí's 15th birthday party.
After what happened to Rubí,
Marisela was completely different.
She had a vacant expression, her gaze was empty.
Her quest for justice was the only thing that was keeping her going.
Seeing my friend break down, I wouldn't wish it on anybody.
On anybody.
I had never seen my mom break down before that day.
Or after, for that matter. That was the first and only time.
She had collapsed on a couch at the courtroom.
There were so many thoughts racing through my mind.
I just wanted to kill Sergio, you know what I mean?
I wanted revenge, that's what I wanted.
He was surprised. He didn't understand.
He was sure he'd be found guilty.
People in Ciudad Juárez, including the public at large,
everyone was outraged.
Four or five hours later,
Marisela was already planning her steps for the next day.
We all automatically got ready to march in protest.
The mother of the murdered girl and some of her family members
took to the streets today to march in protest.
Yesterday, those judges murdered her again.
They killed her all over again with their verdict.
VICTIMS HAVE NO LEGAL GUARANTEES
It was a circus.
They made clowns of us, and they had the last laugh.
Ha, ha, ha! You wanted justice? Ha, ha, ha!
Mr. Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra was acquitted
because the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof…
JUDGE
…to prove beyond a reasonable doubt his involvement in the murder.
Unfortunately, the case fell upon three incompetent people.
Three justice employees, because they can't be called judges.
They absolved the murderer by "unanimous" decision,
but I've said it over and over, it was a pusillanimous decision.
ONE IS HUMAN ERROR THREE IS OUTRAGE
We can't let any more young women get murdered in our city.
Mrs. Marisela Escobedo Ortiz marched naked today,
covered only with a photo of her daughter Rubí Marisol.
They left me naked, with no guarantees, no rights.
They stripped me of the right to defend my daughter.
Here's a man going around saying he killed a girl,
who on the last day of the trial apologized to the mother.
-How do you interpret it? -We must abide by the law.
JUDGE
When I took this office, I swore an oath
to abide by the laws established in the Constitution,
not to do what I want, or follow my feelings.
We urgently need to know if the judges exonerated him
because they're corrupt, or if Chihuahua's government
is treating these judges as scapegoats.
Marisela Escobedo Ortiz claimed she will not rest
until her daughter's murderer is once again behind bars.
If they fail me again, I'll stay right here.
I'll take the next step.
It's true we didn't have an eyewitness or hard scientific evidence,
but if we take into consideration all the evidence presented,
it's safe to conclude that he participated in the crime.
Besides, no one apologizes for something they didn't do.
ZACATECAS DISTRICT ATTORNEY (2010-2015)
For years, confession was the best proof.
However, many confessions were coerced through torture.
After the 2008 reform to our justice system,
confessions lost their status as incontrovertible proof.
Confessions are no longer valid if they're self-incriminatory,
especially if they were obtained without a lawyer present.
Unlike other types of murders, those that take place at home
usually have no witnesses and leave no proof.
But here they had enough information to determine what had happened.
I first met Marisela on the day of the trial,
when her daughter's killer was acquitted.
LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE ESCOBEDO FAMILY
Counselor Lucha Castro and I were in Ciudad Juárez.
Marisela approached us,
and she asked Counselor Lucha
to represent her.
We became close, very close.
MARISELA'S LAWYER AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE
When I got the case, I had two recourses.
Either request a new trial, or get the ruling reversed.
If I'd found something wrong with the trial,
I would've requested a new one to call the witnesses again.
But given what I had seen in the case file,
and from reading the transcripts of the trial hearings,
the only choice was to get the ruling reversed.
That's why I filed a motion before the Appeals Court.
We're not asking for much, all we want is justice.
There's no question this man took my sister's life.
The Appeals Court unanimously decided
to declare null and void the acquittal of Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra.
They found him guilty of murder in the case of Rubí Fraire Escobedo.
The government cleaned its image and printed a sentence in paper.
But it's useless to me because it's only a piece of paper.
The perpetrator, the murderer is still a fugitive of justice.
She had a clear goal, to find Sergio Rafael Barraza.
He fled the state right away because he knew they'd arrest him.
He knew it wouldn't last.
Now that there was a guilty verdict,
the police had supposedly sent an APB to every state,
to warn them about this fugitive and to request apprehension.
The police weren't making any headway whatsoever,
so we got to work again.
My plan is to reach Mexico City,
together with other mothers of missing young women
who are in as much pain as I am.
She undertook a protest journey across the entire country.
She went to every prosecutor's office saying, "Here's an arrest warrant."
"This man killed my daughter, he's a convicted felon,
and he might be here."
She got out at the city limits and started walking to the city.
This attracted the media.
Sometimes, the authorities refused to see her,
so she waited them out until they agreed to meet with her.
Everywhere we went, towns, cities, or whatever,
they didn't know anything about the case, nothing.
We communicated with other departments,
and every prosecutor's office knew of his arrest warrant.
"Search for him in your state,
and send him over if you find him." That's an all-points bulletin.
We get thousands of those
from every office in the country. Barraza's was just one.
REWARD OFFERED FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO HIS ARREST
I don't want my daughter's death to be in vain.
The men who are used to inflicting violence on women
will learn that sentences aren't only written on paper.
There's no going back.
They asked laborers,
and went to all the bars he might've frequented.
Marisela was going undercover, despite the risk.
She was there with her family and others who sought justice.
After a little over three weeks, we arrived in Mexico City.
My mom requested a meeting with President Felipe Calderón.
MEXICO WAS SENTENCED FOR FEMICIDES
But of course, he refused to meet with her.
What is this march about?
This is a protest march against femicide and human trafficking.
We demand justice.
We've walked from Ciudad Juarez to one city after the other,
handing out wanted posters…
AGAINST FEMICIDE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING WE DEMAND JUSTICE
After what happened with Rubí, when Sergio was arrested in Fresnillo,
he was already seeing some girl roughly the same age as Rubí.
My mom was sure he was there
because his girlfriend was pregnant,
and if he couldn't stay here, that's where he'd go.
They finally went to Zacatecas, where Marisela first found him.
We're touring a bunch of cities, following leads, doing protest walks.
I want people to know he's a murderer.
Funny, his current girlfriend's mom is also named Marisela, just like me.
He'll always remember me and know that I will always be after him.
I'll keep searching no matter what, all over the country.
If I have to live on the road, so be it.
We went straight to the place where they arrested Sergio.
I was hanging up a poster when two girls walked over.
I figured they recognized him, so I started explaining.
Then, my mom came over and talked to them.
She asked them to help us.
One of them said that her cousin was his current girlfriend,
and that she knew where he was staying.
Marisela had found out exactly where he was,
so she called the police and said, "He's here."
My mom tried to explain the case, and then she called Chihuahua.
They came in through the front, but there was an empty lot in the back.
I ran to the back of the house and when I looked up,
I saw Sergio climbing out of the bathroom window.
There were some stairs that led to the roof.
My adrenaline started pumping.
He started running, and as he ducked to hide, he spotted me.
His face looked like someone who knows he's been caught.
A police chase ensued and shots were fired.
They told Marisela, "We got him."
But later told her, "Never mind, he escaped."
The suspect was armed…
FRESNILLO DEPUTY STATE ATTORNEY
…and he fired at the police officers.
We cordoned off the area, but we were unable to locate him.
Once the cops knew he had escaped,
that's when the federal police and the military showed up.
They were lining the block, they even fired some shots.
They fired a few shots, but it was just for show.
He was long gone.
Mistakes were made during the arrest procedure.
Looks like he got a heads-up and he fled.
But they were very close to arresting him.
Mom felt that they were simply not doing anything.
They asked her, "Was he hard to find?"
And she said, "No, he was exactly where I thought he would be."
It was a poorly conducted operation.
A failed operation.
It didn't happen during my tenure, but the previous state prosecutor's.
Marisela's anger, already considerable,
reached a whole new peak, as you can imagine.
I felt so impotent.
I couldn't believe he got away after we'd found him again.
Let's say the authorities intended to capture him with this information.
They still botched the arrest because they didn't care.
The cops didn't call for backup because they wanted the reward.
They couldn't claim the reward, because that was their job.
They still refused to request more backup.
When Mrs. Marisela came to see me at the Prosecutor's Office,
I was overseeing 500 officers. Many hadn't finished high school.
None of them had been evaluated for trustworthiness.
Was the police force trustworthy back in those days?
Certainly not.
I watched my mom read the file, just staring at the bones.
She read the same things over and over again.
I didn't know how she managed. I mean, this was her daughter.
She told me she'd force herself to think it was someone else.
"I don't think it's Rubí, I think it's someone else."
But she had weak moments.
In public, you're strong, you just power through it.
But in private, that's when my mom would break down.
That's when she buckled under all those unanswered questions.
There was nothing I could say, all I could do was be there.
Just be there for her.
After this, we stayed in Fresnillo for one or two weeks,
looking for him in every single town.
We were on his trail.
But then we heard rumors that he had joined the Zetas cartel.
We figured they were only trying to scare us off.
They built a network of neighbors to get more information,
and they found the new house where Sergio was staying.
So, they rented a nearby house
with a clear view of Sergio's house,
and set up a permanent watch to stalk him.
We stayed in Fresnillo, waiting, waiting.
A month went by, then two, and we had nothing.
RUBÍ STREET
We heard he was there, that's what people told us.
It was a waiting game.
Keeping watch.
Two or three months went by and we'd gotten nowhere.
Back then, my mom drove a little green Jetta.
We used binoculars, just like in the movies.
Except this was a horror movie.
We had to keep watch over those long nights.
Mom and I would stay in the car until 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.
I would've recognized Sergio from miles away.
I didn't need binoculars to know it was him.
They went into a side street, and when we turned,
his truck was facing us, headlights on.
He knew it was us following him.
He knew our car. He'd seen it before.
Given the truck he was driving, I realized it was very likely
that he was now working for the cartel.
That's when we knew we were in real danger.
We thought they might come after us.
They knew the two phone numbers that Sergio Rafael was using.
So Marisela went through the call records.
He kept his phone off for three days and on for two days.
There were no calls for three days and several calls the next two.
That's how the Zetas cartel works.
This pattern made us realize that he was really a member of the Zetas.
He didn't go by Sergio anymore. Now he was "Commander Bambino."
He kept changing it, like a stage name.
As we were out looking for Sergio, we found someone who knew him.
My mom started talking to her and she spilled the beans.
She gave her information we weren't even looking for,
like the location of a safehouse, the name of the guy at the top,
even the location of weapon caches. Much more than we bargained for.
The agents said they needed the Zetas' permission…
in order to roll into town to arrest him.
If the Zetas didn't turn him in, they couldn't arrest him.
He had apparently become someone with certain power.
And he did have ties to the Zetas drug cartel.
My uncle Ricardo and I spoke to my mom separately.
I told her that this information complicated everything.
Now that he worked for the cartel, things were no longer the same.
Everyone knows that there's an arrangement
between the authorities and criminal organizations.
We weren't getting any kind of support.
No cameras, no agents, no taking our calls, nothing.
Absolutely no support.
Eventually, we came to realize that we would never find him.
We went back to Chihuahua, to a new governor,
and a new state prosecutor.
During election season, violence tends to spike.
César Duarte won on a platform focused on public safety.
GOVERNOR OF CHIHUAHUA (2010-2016)
I begin my administration with one fundamental goal.
To be remembered in the end
as the governor who was able to bring order to Chihuahua.
JOURNALIST
His inauguration was over the top, like a huge block party.
Lights all over the place, and in the streets.
People are cheering happily, welcoming César Duarte.
He goes to the edge of the stage to greet the crowd.
Once we got back, my mom decided to camp out
right outside the Government Palace.
GOVERNMENT PALACE
She had already marched all over the country.
She had been to the capital. She had even found Sergio.
She had exhausted every resource.
What else could she do? She decided to camp out.
She started on December 5th.
I commuted back and forth from Juárez, but my uncle stayed with her.
JUSTICE IS A PRIVILEGE OF GOVERNMENT
Is the killer still in Mexico?
Yes, and he's about to become the hunter and I the hunted.
He expects me to go into hiding now,
but I refuse to hide. He can come kill me here.
Has he made any threats?
Yes, he and his family have made threats against me.
He's already working with a criminal organization.
What's the government waiting for? For him to kill me?
He can kill me, but it has to be here.
The only things she hadn't done were illegal for her to do.
She wasn't scared for herself, but the law didn't permit it,
and she chose to act lawfully.
AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF CHIHUAHUA
Chihuahua University's anniversary is on December 8th.
During her sit-in, she heard that Governor Duarte was coming,
so she got one of her banners and took it to the press event.
As the governor gave his speech, they got up and unfurled it.
"Justice is a privilege of the government."
This alluded to the kidnapping of Patricia González's brother.
In that case, it took them days to find the kidnappers.
When César Duarte's nephew was kidnapped, same thing happened.
Justice is only reserved for government officials.
In the prosecutor's brother's case, they had the killers in two weeks.
RUBÍ STOLEN JUSTICE
How was your brother's case handled, and why did it anger Marisela?
I have no idea why it bothered Marisela,
since my brother's case was completely unrelated.
When she unfurled the banner,
you could tell Duarte was pissed.
He had no tolerance for criticism, constructive or otherwise.
So, for the mother of a victim, and a woman on top of that,
to expose him like that,
with such strength and force,
and with the information she had,
he obviously didn't take it well.
Angry, the governor sent her to see the state attorney, Carlos Salas.
CHIHUAHUA STATE DISTRICT ATTORNEY (2010-2013)
He asked if she wanted to make a report with her information.
She said yes.
So, she began.
In the state of Zacatecas, in the city of Fresnillo…
In the street, he received…
She shared all the information she had uncovered.
Everything she'd done.
APPEARANCE MARISELA ESCOBEDO
THE LAST TIME I SEE THE FEDERAL AGENTS…
Who knows how long they were in there.
I APPEAR BEFORE THIS COURT TO GIVE INFORMATION HOPING IT'LL BE CONSIDERED…
Then she went back to her sit-in at the plaza.
The AG gave us his word.
I believed their promises once again.
I want to believe they'll do it and that they'll do it soon.
Sadly, we've gotten similar assurances from previous administrations,
but there have been no results so far.
I don't distrust the AG. I hope he keeps his word.
I hope they do it this time, but I'll be waiting right here.
We were planning on spending Christmas and New Year's there,
Uncle Ricardo, my mom, and me,
until something happened. Something had to happen.
She seemed strong to me, but she did break down at times.
She would tell me she was tired of all that shit.
In those words.
Starting with the governor and everyone below him.
We know that there is justice in this country and this state.
Why? Because justice exists for Governor César Duarte.
REWARD $100,000
It exists for former prosecutor Patricia González.
Whenever we went to the square, we stopped to check on her.
We also tried to convince her to declare a truce.
A truce over the holidays, mostly for her mental health,
so she could get her strength back, but there was no dissuading her.
There was no power on Earth that could shake her decision.
DECEMBER 16, 2010
Being there was so dangerous, especially at night,
particularly since Sergio was now being protected by the cartel.
That day, on December 16th,
she was knitting some black Christmas decorations,
and she said she'd wait for the 25th to buy a Christmas tree,
because they would be cheaper by that time.
She was adamant that she'd spend Christmas at the square.
That night, like every night,
she started to tidy up the camp at 8:00 p.m.
A car pulled up.
She saw him coming.
She ran across the street.
And he shot her.
JUSTICE
I called my siblings and went to the house.
I didn't know how to feel. I couldn't cry.
I felt impotence, frustration, I don't know how to explain it.
I gathered my siblings,
and we went to Chihuahua that night to claim my mom's body.
We were shattered. It's very hard to describe.
It still makes me cry.
I wasn't shocked at the time because I'd seen it coming.
I knew that would happen.
But I hoped against hope that things would be different.
There is outrage over the murder of Mrs. Marisela Escobedo Ortiz,
who was killed last night.
She was killed as she protested in front of the Government Palace
to demand the arrest of her daughter's murderer.
Marisela Escobedo, a mother who fought to get justice for her daughter's death,
was gunned down in front of Chihuahua's government building.
We have César Duarte on the line. Governor, good morning.
-Good morning, Carlos. -Governor, what happened?
What information did you get from the video?
We got her brother's statement, who witnessed the crime.
He gave us a physical description, and we're looking for the perp.
Marisela, hear this, we support your fight!
BETTER TO DIE ON MY FEET THAN LIVE ON MY KNEES
Marisela, hear this, we support your fight!
The greatest woman in Juárez! The one and only!
My mother! Marisela Escobedo Ortiz!
-Marisela lives! -The fight goes on!
Society's outrage had reached a tipping point,
which resulted in important demonstrations,
like lighting candles all around the Government Palace.
People would leave their candles and then go home.
It was cold that day.
The atmosphere felt different, as if the city had ground to a halt.
Even if you'd never met her, even if you only knew of her,
even if you'd seen her from afar, she felt close to all of us.
There was a great outpouring of affection for her,
as well as indignation and fear.
I saw the video for the first time in Chihuahua.
It's rough seeing someone you love get killed like that.
It's…
I don't know how to explain it, but it's very fucking rough.
And…
That was it. My mom was dead.
Marisela Escobedo Ortiz returned to Ciudad Juarez in a hearse.
The casket, escorted by her sons and the state police,
was welcomed by friends and residents at the city limits.
We are all gathered here…
to bid farewell to my mom's remains, because she is no longer here.
Her body is here with us,
but her essence is now with the Lord.
She fought to her last breath and died on the frontlines.
Like my brother said, our mom was a hero,
because she did things that no one in the city had ever done.
She fought on her own,
against rain and thunder.
Even when she seemed like she would break down,
like when my sister's killer was released,
she got up again…
and taught us a lesson in fortitude.
I ask all of you to give my mom a big round of applause.
When you have doubts about what you should do,
when you have questions about how to stand and fight,
remember Marisela Escobedo.
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD I SHALL NOT WANT
HER CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
That day and that night seemed to stretch forever.
I only got a few hours of sleep. The next day, we woke up,
and I left with my wife and kid. My wife was pregnant.
We saw something burning in the distance.
A woodshop is on fire.
Boulevard Oscar Flores had to be shut down completely.
Firemen are still working.
My mom's boyfriend was the one who always opened the woodshop,
but he didn't do it that day because of what had happened.
They took my mom's boyfriend's brother and burned it down.
They burned it down to the ground.
MARISELA'S BROTHER-IN-LAW MURDERED, HER WOODSHOP BURNED DOWN
His name was Manuel.
One or two hours later, they found his body
with a bag over his head and wire around his neck.
I also found out that they'd come looking for me.
Some people had shown up after I had left.
They tried to break in. They were coming for me.
That's when I realized
the danger that all of us were in.
We had to leave. We could no longer stay.
INTERNATIONAL PASO DEL NORTE
Marisela Escobedo's son requested political asylum in the US,
fearing for his life after his mother's murder.
Someone gave them my card, told them to call me,
and drove them over the bridge.
LAWYER FOR THE ESCOBEDO FAMILY
"What about our belongings? What about our businesses?"
The federal cops replied, "You're lucky to be alive."
That was the message they were sending Juan's family.
"You're alive, fuckers, leave it alone."
When you expose the flaws in the government and the system,
and the link between the government and cartels,
your life is at risk.
The issue here and in Juárez is that in the same precinct,
you can have ten cops gathered around a table,
and three criminal organizations represented there as well.
I've said this before and I'll say it again.
Marisela signed her own death sentence
when she gave a statement at the AG's office in Chihuahua.
I think that was the moment
when they decided to take her out to bury the information she had.
It's a crime of the state, because the state "benefitted,"
despite the initial backlash,
when such an outspoken and demanding critic died.
Those who aim to muddy the waters
those who say that what happened, which is painful for all of us,
could be called a state crime, are sorely mistaken.
The governor of Chihuahua has no ties to criminal groups!
The killers must've known
they could kill her that night with total impunity,
at the door of the palace, with all the lights on,
and on camera.
It was sanctioned if not outright ordered by the state.
She wasn't protected. They left her all alone.
She was camping out there because she had no recourse.
They weren't even investigating or helping Marisela find Sergio.
Marisela wouldn't have died if we'd kept investigating.
But my term was long over. Our tenures only last six years.
It was easier to kill her than to arrest Sergio. Much easier.
But what they didn't know is that they couldn't silence her.
I knew it wasn't over.
I knew this wasn't done yet.
I told him…
I'd become the legal arm of his struggle,
as long as he kept up the fight.
I decided to keep up the fight, but from U.S. soil.
I'll do it across the border and see what happens.
RUBÍ- STOLEN JUSTICE JUSTICE PRIVILEGE OF GOVERNMENTS
They don't want green cards. These people want justice.
We've seen the Mexican government's dirty tricks here and in Mexico.
MEXICO GENERAL CONSULATE
We want to demand publicly that they see what we're doing.
It will be awkward for them, they'll be angry,
but we're not here to make friends, we're here to get justice.
PROTESTERS CONDEMN FEMICIDES
Justice!
A worldwide protest took place today
to denounce Marisela's murder.
Stop violence against women!
"KILL ME IN FRONT OF THE PALACE!"
The political cost for Chihuahua's new administration was very high.
It faced a challenge since someone had been murdered at their door.
After meeting with the AG himself, denouncing the governor,
and embarrassing the state prosecutor, she'd been killed at their door.
Not to mention society's outrage. So, there was a great need
to prove their capacity
to deal with a case like this.
-Is there any progress? -We have made great strides.
Many new discoveries have been added to the case file.
We hope that this case will soon be closed.
-What about Sergio Barraza's case? -It's the same case.
It's very likely that they were instructed
to finally close the case, given all the uproar.
The authorities announced they'd caught Marisela's killer,
and that they had evidence to prove it.
José Enrique Jiménez Zavala, aka Wicked, has been detained.
He's the alleged killer of activist Marisela Escobedo.
We have finally concluded a long investigation,
culminating in the arrest
of the material perpetrator.
I'm responsible for taking the life of Mrs. Escobedo.
I was following orders from the criminal group I belong to.
They presented this man as my mom's murderer,
and charged him with other crimes, like shooting up a bar.
PUBLIC DEFENDER
I worked as a public defender for the state of Chihuahua.
-What is your name? -Perla Márquez, public defender.
Originally, he told me,
"I killed her. I want this over with. And that's that."
What can you tell us about the first photograph?
I'm next to the Government Palace.
As I got close to her, my gun jammed.
I chased after her.
I imagine that this is when I reloaded the gun.
In 26, I imagine that's when I caught up and shot her.
We have all this and evidence from the other murders.
He confessed, and the gun is the same.
We have brought charges with total confidence.
I want to take responsibility for what I did,
and pay for the consequences of my choices, as they say.
Marisela's lawyer doesn't believe he is the murderer.
He uses terms like, "I deprived her of her life."
Criminals usually say, "I killed her," or, "I took her out."
Who confesses to murder completely unprompted?
The ones who have to prove guilt are the prosecutor's office.
What concrete proof could they have?
This whole thing rested on his confession.
They only proved the gun killed her.
They didn't prove he fired it, and there's a difference.
The family once again raised a cry of alarm.
"You have the wrong man. This case isn't solved."
Marisela's brother, Ricardo, denies that Zavala is the killer,
because he was with her and saw the killer up close.
I couldn't identify him because I wasn't there,
but Ricardo was.
And Ricardo told me that he'd never forget the guy's face.
The composite drawing shows many similarities
with the man they presented, but he's not my mom's killer.
Marisela Escobedo's killer is Andy Barraza.
Andy is Sergio's brother, the man who killed Rubí, Juan's sister.
This is a picture of Andy Barraza Bocanegra.
I met Andy sometime before Rubí was murdered.
He had just been released from juvie.
Ricardo never met Andy.
He had never seen him before that night.
Marisela Escobedo filed a report with the Chihuahua's AG's office,
accusing Andy Barraza of showing up at her home to gun her down.
Andy had been telling people in his neighborhood
that he was going to kill my mom. He said, "I'm going to fuck her up."
We gave this information to the PGR.
To Mr. César Peniche.
MEXICO GENERAL CONSULATE
We chatted briefly with him.
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S DELEGATE IN CHIHUAHUA (2010-2015)
We got some extra information and scheduled a formal statement.
We demanded they conduct a photographic line-up.
There was a photo of Andy among all those pictures.
And Ricardo positively identified him as the killer.
I RECOGNIZE THIS MAN AS MY SISTER'S MURDERER
-Did you kill her? -Yes, sir, I did.
Are you certain of that? Is there any doubt?
Is there a chance you were on drugs
and you thought you did it but someone else did?
I was on drugs all the time, but I was fully aware.
The family insisted it wasn't Wicked and pointed to the real killer,
but the prosecutors ignored their information.
They dismissed it entirely, didn't even include it in the file.
Their media strategy was about hammering down on Wicked.
CENTER FOR SOCIAL READAPTATION AQUILES SERDÁN, CHIHUAHUA
Everything changed one day when he told me, "Enough."
"I can't go along with this anymore, because I didn't kill her."
He was tortured into confessing to the murders he was charged with.
They made threats against his wife and child.
So, he agreed to say whatever they wanted.
I immediately informed the judge about this,
and requested the initiation of the Istanbul Protocol.
This protocol is a test to determine whether someone was tortured.
I told him that I thought we should go to trial.
I thought we could mount a successful defense.
Keep in mind, Marisela's brother was there when she was killed,
so we had an actual witness.
We did our due diligence as we prepared for the trial.
If the state charges someone despite contrary evidence,
it must be proved in court, but he'd get exonerated.
On December 31st, 2014, the AG's office announced
that Wicked had died from a massive heart attack.
Wicked's mother demanded an autopsy of her son's body.
So they had to admit it was all a lie.
Authorities walked back their statement about Wicked's cause of death.
They revealed he didn't die from a heart attack.
Rather, he was strangled by his cell mate,
one Jaime Noel Cuevas, alias "Jimmy."
He was murdered inside a maximum security penitentiary.
I realized that even if I gave them all the evidence
right there in their hands that someone else did it,
it wouldn't mean anything. They didn't care for the truth.
We need transparency
from the authorities involved back then.
Is the case still open, sir? Is Marisela's murder under investigation?
Or is the case closed?
As I remember, the case ended
with Wicked being charged.
With the death of this individual and his possible accomplice,
the matter was concluded.
You're fighting a losing battle, you know what I mean?
That day, as I stood next to my mother's casket,
I promised her I would do everything I could
to get justice for Rubí.
And that's what I did.
But I had to accept that I couldn't spend my life in that pursuit.
I was completely drained, mentally and emotionally.
You think hatred is all you have left.
At first it seems like a driving force, but then it gnaws at you.
I wasn't happy. I couldn't be at peace.
I'd wake up each morning and think about my mom.
I'd think about Andy and Sergio.
One of the most wanted men in the state of Chihuahua is dead.
The state prosecutor confirmed the death of Sergio Rafael Barraza.
After lying unidentified for six days at Zacatecas' morgue,
Barraza's body was identified and claimed by his wife.
Barraza was killed by soldiers in a gunfight on November 16th.
He was gunned down because of his criminal activities.
But it was not a result of an arrest.
He didn't serve the 50-year sentence that Marisela had fought for.
He was the only man responsible for Rubí's murder.
As for the case tied to him which he masterminded,
the actual perpetrator has also been arrested.
Marisela's case was closed.
Sergio Barraza was dead, so it was closed.
That speaks volumes in terms of the concept of justice
for the authorities and the current government.
Case closed.
We drove down to El Paso and talked about Andy.
I singled him out as the man my uncle had identified.
But the prosecutors never acknowledged it.
Salas later claimed that all this had come out of nowhere.
Seriously? After all those times I spoke outside the consulate?
Dealing with Mexican authorities is a huge waste of time.
I have nothing to hide, bro. I'll tell you anything you want,
except for the things that might incriminate me.
If people want to blame me for Marisela's death,
it wasn't me, dude. I say this sincerely.
I worked at a restaurant on Mesa Street, El Paso, Texas.
My shift ended at 1:00 a.m.
I found out the next morning when a friend woke me up.
I didn't kill Marisela. I'm here for stealing boots.
They say the same thing about my brother.
They say he's the one who killed Marisela.
Of course he ordered the hit, but someone else killed her.
He made the decision to join the Zetas cartel.
SERGIO BARRAZA'S BROTHER
He joined the Zetas and died with them.
He died, but he gained power and met the top dogs.
He met the Juárez Cartel's top dogs and they did favors for us.
I mean, favors for him.
Burning down the store,
killing the protected witness, your brother did all that?
Of course it was him, who else could've done it?
He was the mastermind behind all that.
That's it, I'm telling you here. I didn't kill Marisela Fraire Escobedo.
I didn't kill that woman.
In the end, Rubí's murder went unpunished.
Marisela's murder went unpunished.
He was never arrested.
He never served time for Rubí's murder.
And Marisela didn't get any justice either.
The country's prosecutions are overwhelmed.
As a direct result of that, many of the investigations…
are frankly flawed.
But most investigations aren't even flawed,
they're permanently shelved.
They're stuck forever in a deep slumber.
There are still many girls like Rubí all over the country.
Many Mariselas who walk every day demanding justice.
MARISELA ESCOBEDO NINE YEARS WITHOUT JUSTICE
RUBÍ 4126 DAYS WITHOUT JUSTICE
MARISELA 3285 DAYS WITHOUT JUSTICE
If we let cases like this,
cases as clear-cut as this end in impunity,
if we let this happen, we put our own society at risk.
We march on every anniversary so that people don't forget.
A crime without justice.
A crime drenched in impunity.
Marisela left her business behind
in order to become a staunch defender
of life, justice, and liberty.
And it cost her her life.
Because the government
wasn't able to give her the justice she demanded.
MARISELA ESCOBEDO ORTIZ WAS MURDERED HERE ON DEC 16TH 2010
Her last words are still etched into my memory.
"I'd like my daughter's femicide to be the last one in this city."
She was a nurse, a mother, a business owner.
Her life was like any other's.
But what she did during the last two years of her life
helped her transcend into the history of Chihuahua and Mexico forever.
Marisela Escobedo is a living hero in our collective consciousness.
Not only in Ciudad Juárez, but for many Mexicans.
She was a spark of hope for Mexican women and victims.
Everyone felt the weight of her words.
Get out of your four walls.
If one door closes, tomorrow another opens.
You can keep searching until the end of the Earth.
So that our daughters may live free,
so that they're not victims of violence or abuse,
and much less murder.
The fight goes on and on!
Marisela lives on!
We know there's good people out there, and I'm calling for their support.
Take to the streets with us and demand justice.
Look out for each other and don't wait to be next.
Justice!
These are mothers who've left orphaned children.
These are our daughters. These are students.
They are the future of our city and our country.
Not one more murdered woman!
TOGETHER WE'RE STRONG!
NOT ONE LESS
Listen! This is your fight!
MEXICO FEMICIDE
You are not alone! You are not alone!
I realized that my mom had become a symbol.
A symbol of this fight in Chihuahua, Mexico City, and Ciudad Juarez.
She's a symbol.
This is a love story,
and it's also the story of many mothers, fathers,
many brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters,
that we're all experiencing nowadays.
Yeah, it's a love story.
I decided I was tired, I didn't want to hate anymore.
And in that moment, as I said those words,
this weight fell off my shoulders, like huge sacks of cement.
A huge weight dropped off, and the hate was gone.
There was no forgiveness either, that's a different thing,
but the hatred wasn't there, it was all gone.
I haven't felt the same since.
Good evening, everyone.
Thank you for sharing this special night for our family and Noemí's.
I'd like you to join me in a toast, with whatever is on hand,
to wish these kids happiness and God bless you all.
Thank you.
My mom taught us love.
I was too stubborn to be loved, but she loved me anyway.
In 2019, a lawsuit was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
to determine the Mexican State's responsibility
in the handling of Marisela and Rubí's case.
Andy Barraza is serving time in Texas, USA, for aggravated robbery.
The Mexican government has never summoned him to testify in Marisela's case.
At the time this documentary was made, after three years at large,
César Duarte is being held in Miami while appealing an extradition warrant.
There are 21 warrants for his arrest.
He is accused of embezzling 1.2 billion pesos.
On average, ten women are murdered each day in Mexico.
97% of all femicides go unpunished.
Please don't forget their names Mr. President
For all the women marching along Reforma
For all the girls fighting in Sonora
For the female Commanders Fighting for Chiapas
For all the mothers searching in Tijuana
We sing fearless We demand justice
We shout for every disappeared girl
Let's hear it We want to be alive
Make at last
The femicide die
I light everything on fire I break everything
If some guy shuts your eyes forever
I won't shut up I've had enough
If they hurt one
We will all react
I am Claudia, I am Ester And I am Teresa
I am Ingrid, I am Rubí I am Marisela
I am the girl that you forced To come with you
I am the mother now crying For their deaths
And I am the one who'll make you pay
Justice, justice, justice!
For all the women marching along Reforma
For all the girls fighting in Sonora
For the female Commanders Fighting for Chiapas
For all the mothers searching in Tijuana
We sing fearless We demand justice
We shout for every disappeared girl
Let's hear it We want to be alive
Make at last
The femicide die
Make at last
The femicide die
And let the Earth shake at its core
At the mere roar of love
And let the Earth shake at its core
At the mere roar
Of love
Subtitle translation by: Silvana Rinaldi