Outrage in Hermosillo: Thousands March After Murder of Mother & Three Girls

This article by Cristina Gómez Lima originally appeared in the July 13, 2025 edition of La Jornada.

Hermosillo, Sonora. More than 2,000 people marched through the streets of Hermosillo this Sunday to support the families of Margarita, Meredith, Madelin, and Karla—a mother and her three daughters—who were murdered just a few days ago in the town of Miguel Alemán. They demand that authorities guarantee non-repetition, classify the murders of women and girls as femicide, and impose exemplary criminal punishment for the perpetrator(s).

Dressed in black, holding high portraits of the four victims, the mourners led the march. Among them, Margarita’s mother, the girls’ father, and other relatives advanced in silence, surrounded by a tide of voices that broke the stillness of the city center. “Not one more,” “Don’t touch the girls,” and “I don’t want to die” were chanted and heard amidst banners and shouts.

The mobilization, organized online by at least fourteen feminist groups, including Ni Una Más HMO, Pan y Rosas, Rayos Violeta, and Observatoria Ciudadana Sonora, was called the March for Justice and Dignity. Its objective, in addition to honoring the memory of the victims, is to raise awareness of the violence that increasingly savagely takes the lives of women and girls.

The diverse and family-filled crowd—unlike other demonstrations—gathered on Velazco Alley, between Hermosillo City Hall and the Government Palace, to demand guarantees of non-repetition and real justice. Among the crowd, the voices of representatives of the collectives rose with a firm message: the four deaths must be classified as femicides and not as simple homicides linked to organized crime, as the Sonora prosecutor’s office has so far maintained.

“We are living in a state and municipality on alert for gender-based violence, and yet not all the tools and protocols have been implemented,” criticized Guillermina Romano, a member of Observatoria Todas MX Sonora, who noted that there were previous reports in Margarita’s case and requests to search for the girls. Neither of them activated an Amber Alert or any other effective protocol.

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Romano emphasized that Sonora has been under a Gender Violence Alert for almost four years, and far from decreasing, femicides have actually increased. The activist insisted that not recognizing the murders as femicides revictimizes the victims and falsifies the figures: “It’s a way for the authorities to play games, claiming that femicides have decreased, when in reality they are reclassifying them as homicides.”

The data confirms their alarm: as of May of this year, the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System recognized only four femicides in Sonora, while 36 cases were recorded as intentional homicides of women, including minors. Furthermore, Sonora ranks third nationally in female kidnapping victims and fourth in domestic violence calls.

“We want child femicide to be recognized in Sonora,” several participants demanded, pointing out that state law does not address this issue, which prevents the severity of these crimes against girls from being fully understood.

The statement, read aloud to the crowd, criticized the lack of coordination between agencies such as the State Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Women, and organizations such as SIPINNA (National Institute of Women’s Rights) and the DIF (National Institute of Women’s Rights). It also highlighted that, despite having a Ministry of Women since 2021 and an active Gender Violence Alert in six municipalities, there is no comprehensive plan or clear evaluations of the commitments made. “We don’t just want working groups and photos, we want results,” one of the speakers complained.

The March for Justice and Dignity concluded with chants, tears, and lit candles. The names of Meredith, Madelin, Karla, and Margarita were inscribed on the esplanade, a reminder that behind every number lies a story that shouldn’t have ended this way.