The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office is helping with emergency funeral expenses for a Chula Vista woman killed in Mexico last month, allegedly by a Tijuana firefighter.
The DA’s Office told NBC 7 and Telemundo 20 Wednesday that its Victim Services Division had assisted the mother of Roxana Diaz, 32, with an application for emergency aid that’ll help cover the slain woman’s burial expenses. The division helps anyone who is a San Diego resident, no matter the kind of crime they are victims of, or where that crime occurred.
According to Diaz’s family, her memorial will be held this Sunday at the Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita -- 19 days after she and her friend, Roberto Carlos Morales Trujillo, 39, were killed in Tijuana.
Three brothers -- all of whom are firefighters with the Tijuana Fire Department -- were arrested in connection with the killings, Tijuana authorities confirmed. The suspects are 29, 31, and 32 years old.
Two of the firefighters will face charges of deprivation of freedom. At least one of the men is being investigated directly for the slayings
Officials believe Trujillo was the ex-boyfriend of that suspect's current girlfriend. He was shot twice in the abdomen and found dead on a street northeast of Playas, Mexican law enforcement officials said.
"In a fit of jealousy, (the individual) pulls out a gun and shoots the victims, killing his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend and the young woman who later died," said Jorge Álvarez Assistant State Attorney, offering a glimpse into a possible motive for the killings.
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Marco Sotomayor, the Secretary of Public Security in Tijuana, said the firefighters were arrested in a toll booth in Ensenada.
When officials arrived at the booth, a woman who was with the trio and a girlfriend of one of the individuals, told investigators she was allegedly being held against her will. She told them of the slayings of Diaz and Trujillo in Tijuana.
The arrests sent shockwaves through the Tijuana Fire Department.
Capt. Juan Carlos Fuentes spoke with Telemundo 20 a week after the killings and said the allegations against three of the departent's own were devastating.
Fuentes said the news left him feeling sick, with a knot in his throat.
The captain described the three suspects as quiet, promising young men who, before this, had a real future with the fire department. Fuentes said the brothers have deep family roots with the agency.
"I met them when they were kids," Fuentes said. "Their parents taught me and I taught them."
The captain said he would've never imagined his colleagues would've been tied up in something like this, with one accused of homicide.
And, if the accusations are true, Fuentes said the suspect in the killings made a horrible decision that "ruined his life."
Tijuana Fire Department officials said the arrest of the three firefighters has made the community look at their agency in a negative light.
"They look at us differently; I've experienced it," Fuentes added.
Meanwhile, Jose Luis Jimenez, director of the Tijuana Fire Department, said the agency is taking action to ensure an incident like this never happens again.
He said that, as firefighters, his crews witness traumatic situations daily first-hand, and he worries their line of work takes a heavy psychological toll.
Officials at the Tijuana Fire Department are conducting an internal process to dismiss the three suspects from their positions. The names of the firefighters under investigation were not immediately released.
Back in San Diego, friends and family are mourning the sudden loss of Diaz. Friends described her as a happy person and hard worker.
Diaz's uncle, Francisco Corral, and her mother -- who did not want her identity revealed -- spoke with Telemundo 20 and NBC 7 Wednesday.
Corral said his niece was humble.
Diaz was transferred to UC San Diego Medical Center after the shooting. Her mother told Telemundo 20 she could hardly stand sitting at her daughter's bedside, unable to help, as she died.
"It was very painful for me to see that what I loved the most, my daughter, she was dying and the doctors couldn't do anything," her mother said.
She described her daughter as friendly and social, and said she loved outdoor activities.
According to Diaz's family, she worked at a KFC restaurant in Chula Vista and leaves behind a 16-year-old son. Corral said Diaz worked hard to build a good life for her son.
He said Diaz traveled often to Tijuana to visit her mother.
Corral said Diaz's family believes she wasn't even the intended target of the suspect, but was rather in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
The DA's office said victims of crimes can reach out for help from the Victim Services Division by calling (619) 531-4041. This video explains the work this division does in detail.
