Kidnappers Inject Acid Into Boy's Heart

Corruption Allows Vicious Gangs To Target Working Class And Wealthy Mexicans Alike

(AP)  Kidnappers grabbed a 5-year-old boy from a gritty Mexico City street market, then killed him by injecting acid into his heart - a new low even for Mexico's brutal kidnapping gangs.

The boy, Javier Morena, was the oldest son of a poor family that sold fruit at a market in the tough neighborhood of Iztapalapa, proof that the plague of kidnappings for ransom afflicts the working class as well as the wealthy.

Javier disappeared while playing at the market on Sunday, Oct. 26, Mexico City authorities said on Monday. The boy's family spent days looking for him, finally persuading a local television station to post his picture on the news three days later.

A taxi driver recognized the boy, and went to the market to find the family. He told them that he had given the boy and a teenager a ride from the market to nearby Mexico state, and the teenager had told him the boy was crying because his younger brother had been stolen.

The driver dropped the two off a block from the police station, and the teen told him they were meeting the boy's mother there.

The family showed the driver a picture of their son. Also in the picture was a 17-year-old family friend, who the driver recognized as the alleged kidnapper.

The police raided the 17-year-old's home, and he and his family and two others confessed to having killed the boy before they could ask for a $23,000 ransom, Mexico City Attorney General Miguel Mancera said in a statement.

Mancera said the assailants injected the boy with acid and buried him on a hill outside the capital.

Five suspected kidnappers, including the 17-year-old, are under arrest. It was unclear if the group had carried out other kidnappings.

Javier was buried early Monday. Hours later, sitting in her home of cinderblock and corrugated tin, the boy's mother, Laura Vega, said she has no idea why the kidnappers targeted her family. But she said she felt they should face the death penalty, long banned in Mexico, and that they should "suffer the way my son suffered."

"He didn't have to die like that, far from his parents," she said, her eyes red and swollen from crying. "If he had to go to God, it shouldn't have been like that."

The child's death recalled the recent kidnapping and slaying of Fernando Marti, the 14-year-old son of a sporting goods magnate whose death prompted a national outcry against crime.

Young Marti's decomposing body was found in the trunk of a car even though his family reportedly paid a ransom. Prosecutors said a federal lawman was part of the gang that kidnapped Marti.

Outrage over that case prompted more than 100,000 people to march through Mexico City in August to demand an end to endemic police corruption and rising crime.

On Monday, dozens of people left messages on Reforma's Web site expressing outrage at the 5-year-old's death. Some called for Mexico to reinstate capital punishment.

"Keeping them alive only guarantees a hidden danger for the rest of society," wrote a man who identified himself as Eric Aguilar of Mexico City.

Mexico has one of the world's highest kidnapping rates, according to the anti-violence group IKV Pax Christi. Kidnappings are up 9 percent this year and average 65 per month nationwide, according to the federal Attorney General's Office, which blames a growing web of drug cartels, current and former police officers and informants who point out potentially lucrative victims.

Most kidnappings go unreported for fear of police involvement. The nonprofit Citizens' Institute for Crime Studies estimates the real kidnapping rate to be more than 500 per month.

[harbinger19]

I highly doubt it, Tex, it is corruption and poverty that causes this to happen, the death penalty will not cure the first two, and so the madness will continue, the only difference being that those who fail to take advantage of the corruption could be executed, but I don''t think one such incident will be prevented by capital punishment.
Posted by brianbwb-2009 at 9:20 PM : Nov 4, 2008


The death penalty cannot cure corruption and poverty, this is true--but each time it is carried out, it lessens and diminishes the practioners of certain acts. By killing perps, we can guarantee that the person we kill, won't be doing anything else like that in this lifetime.

We can consider this the law of diminishing returns when it comes to the production of murder. LOL

[harbinger19]

Well, now we know another reason why they risk everything to come here. this is horrible--but in all honesty, I don't want people who come from a system of such blatant corruption and mayhem in my country illegally in large numbers.

[cockamammy]

autumn987 - you undermine the seriousness of this news story by posting your nonsensical gibberish. CBS News Mods - PLEASE stop having this idiot post this nonsense. Whoever this person is, he/she is not adding anything constructive to this discussion. Regardless of what side of any issue you are on, your opinion and the written words therein should be literate at the least.

BTW - It is a terrible shame that this beautiful boy should have to meet such a horrific fate. Is it economic desperation or just evil that motivates people to act in such a heinous manner?

[fush2]

oh wow...what the *** did this kid do to deserve this??? wat?? this is horrible...parents should keep a closer eye on their kids...

[nancygiusti]

Voltaire, you''re strange. This article is about innocent children who were tortured. It''s not about you. Get over yourself. You must be a real positive and fun person to be around....wow. Seriously, NOT ABOUT YOU. Move on now, call a friend or get a life. Something.

[txgrouch2007]

I don''''t think one such incident will be prevented by capital punishment.
Posted by brianbwb at 09:20 PM : Nov 04, 2008

How can you measure crimes that DIDN''T happen?

One thing for sure - when capital punishment is applied, it prevents REPEAT OFFENDERS.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Yah, NOW the people want to bring back capital punishment. Maybe the LACK OF IT is what nurtured this kind of criminal activity." Posted by txgrouch2007

I highly doubt it, Tex, it is corruption and poverty that causes this to happen, the death penalty will not cure the first two, and so the madness will continue, the only difference being that those who fail to take advantage of the corruption could be executed, but I don''t think one such incident will be prevented by capital punishment.

[txgrouch2007]

Otherwise, I''''m beyond words given the sadistic nature of this vile, depraved activity.
Posted by Hypnotoad72 at 06:26 PM : Nov 04, 2008

I''m not sure if this is worse than the guy in Canada who stabbed and ate a fellow passenger on a bus.

But what difference does it make. At least the guy in Canada is clinically insane. These kidnappers have no excuse.

Yah, NOW the people want to bring back capital punishment. Maybe the LACK OF IT is what nurtured this kind of criminal activity.

[happyspiderl]

I think its ashame what this world is comming to, these people need to suffer and suffer hard for their crimes. this little boy did not have to go the way he did, but at least no one can hurt him ever again, my pryers and thoughts go to the family...

[hypnotoad72]

Who needs "Fear Factor", just read or watch the evening news.

Otherwise, I''m beyond words given the sadistic nature of this vile, depraved activity.