June 26, 2009
Almost as many El Pasoans were killed in Juarez in the last year and a half as were killed in El Paso, a stark fact that has changed life for so many people who live their lives on both sides of the border.
There were 18 homicides in El Paso last year, and five so far this year. The number of El Pasoans killed in Juarez in 2008 was 14, according to statistical reports provided by the U.S. Department of State, and at least six have been killed this year, according to a review of news articles.
Two happened within the last week and a half. On June 17, 27-year-old Erica Gutierrez and her husband, who lived in Juarez, were shot while sitting on a curb at the intersection of Golfo de Tarento and Golfo de Alaska streets.
Gutierrez leaves behind four children and a mother and grandmother. According to co-worker Maria Lopez, Gutierrez would take weekly visits to see her husband who lived in Juarez.
“It was like any other day for her,” Lopez said. “On her days off, she probably would have been in Juarez. She was never scared when she went. It’s just hard to see that she’s really gone. She was always really loving, always dancing around; we’re all going to miss her.”
Lopez said that she knows it is going to be a challenge for Gutierrez’s family to raise her four children.
“At this point, I don’t know what is going to happen to her kids,” she said. “I don’t know if her grandmother will raise them or what, but I imagine that it’s going to be tougher for them to adjust.”
Wednesday, 15-year-old Alejandro Raymundo Perez, an El Dorado High School student who was visiting family in Juarez, was shot with his 18-year-old cousin, Alan Martin Perez Velasquez. An ABC- 7 report said the two teenage boys were on the corner of Emilio Carranza and Gabino Barrera when they were gunned down.
Alejandro’s mother, Enriqueta Hernandez, told Channel 44 in Juarez that her son was an excellent student who received many certificates for his grades. She said her son wanted to be an architect or a designer when he grew up.
Thousands of people regularly go to and from Juarez to visit family members, and the violence in Mexico has taken its toll. Some have made the difficult choice to stay in El Paso. Janette Rodarte, 17, who will be attending El Paso Community College this fall, is one.
“I moved here because I was scared and I needed to go to college,” Rodarte said. “I have my mom and brothers and sisters over in Juarez, but I don’t go to see them that much. I live with my aunt here and she really doesn’t want me to go.”
Rodarte said she’s spent her entire life living in Juarez and El Paso and now she is left feeling torn between both cities. While she considers Juarez her home, she knows she’ll have to make certain sacrifices for her safety.
“The more I’m here, the safer I feel, but I know that they aren’t as safe,” she said.