Mexican journo killed

A journalist has been murdered in the troubled southern state of Guerrero, Mexican authorities said Friday, adding to a long list of reporter killings in what is considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media professionals.

The Guerrero state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Cecilio Pineda Birto was shot dead Thursday evening in Ciudad Altamirano while in a hammock at a car wash waiting for his car to be serviced. Prosecutors said two attackers arrived on a motorcycle and one of them fired a handgun, according to eyewitness accounts.

Authorities were investigating, and there was no immediate word on whether his killing may have been related to his work.

Pineda was the founder of La Voz de Tierra Caliente, collaborated with various other media outlets and also published reports via Facebook, said Carlos Lauria, senior program co-ordinator for the Americas at the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, who has been working to document the case.

Lauria told The Associated Press that according to a witness, Pineda was shot at least 10 times “execution-style,” including once in the neck and four times in the chest.

Pineda was apparently receiving threats on a weekly basis, mostly through social media, according to Lauria. He added that Pineda escaped a previous attempt to kill him in September 2015 when a gunman shot at him at his home.

According to the CPJ, at least 37 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1992 for motives confirmed as directly related to their work.