People take part in a protest demanding justice after the death of Ariadna Fernanda Lopez, a 27-year-old woman who was found dead on a highway in Morelos state, in Mexico City, Mexico November 7, 2022. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
MEXICO CITY — The mayor of Mexico City on Monday accused a state prosecutors’ office of covering up the killing of a young woman found dead on a Morelos highway last week, after the office reported the 27-year-old had died of alcohol intoxication.
Morelos attorney general Uriel Carmona had told a news conference Friday that an autopsy of the body of Ariadna Lopez showed no evidence of violence, but an investigation by Mexico City prosecutors later concluded she had died of multiple force trauma.
The Morelos prosecutors’ office could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to the second investigation, security footage showed a man who claimed to be Lopez’ friend carrying a body from a Mexico City apartment after she disappeared on October 30.
Cyclists found Lopez’s body in neighboring Morelos state days later and shared photos online to help identify her.
“In this case it is evident the Morelos prosecutors’ office wanted to hide the femicide, presumably because of links with the presumed killer,” said Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.
“It was the duty of Morelos’ prosecutors’ office to carry out the investigation,” she said. “Without the intervention from Mexico City, this femicide would have gone unpunished.”
Authorities said two people linked to Lopez’s alleged killing were in police custody.
Sheinbaum has been tipped to become Mexico’s first woman president in a 2024 vote, in a country where on average 10 women are killed every day.
Authorities on Friday said five women had been found dead in Morelos, a central Mexican state with one of the country’s highest femicide rates.