Mexican Father Who Shot Son’s Kidnappers Gets House Arrest for Christmas

A Mexican father who picked up an old rifle to rescue his son from a group of kidnappers will likely spend Christmas with his family after a judge placed him on house arrest instead of jail. He is still facing criminal charges in connection with the “homicide in a fight” of one of kidnapper.

Earlier this month, 66-year-old “Don Ramon” Merino, a former Mexican soldier and member of the town council in Tecamalucan, made headlines after he used an old rifle to fight off a group of kidnappers that were chasing his son. During the fight, one of the would-be kidnappers died from a gunshot wound and a second suspect sustained injuries. State authorities in Veracruz arrested Don Ramon as part of a homicide investigation. A judge ordered that he be held in jail for a year during his trial.

A new statement from the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office revealed that another state judge changed the charge to “homicide during a riot,” or a charge similar to manslaughter, and granted Don Ramon a term of three months of house arrest while the case went to trial.

#BoletinFGE | Ramón “N” vinculado a proceso por homicidio en riña #Cordoba #Orizaba pic.twitter.com/zm1pVcfRwq

— FGE Veracruz (@FGE_Veracruz) December 17, 2019

The case sparked unrest in Veracruz where an ongoing turf war by rival cartels is causing a spike in kidnappings and executions despite constant official claims about improving security. Veracruz is one of the states in Mexico where authorities continue to find large mass graves and cartel killing fields.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.