A Chicago teenager's birthday celebration trip to Mexico turned into a family nightmare when the teen and multiple relatives were shot along a roadside in the north-central state of Durango.
Vicente Peña Jr., 38, and Antonio “Tony” Fernandez, 44, both from Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, were killed in the attack, along with 22-year-old Jorge Eduardo Vargas Aguirre, according to police. The teen, whose name hasn't been released, his father and uncle traveled to Mexico to celebrate the 14-year-old's birthday when the shooting occurred near the town of Las Palmas.
The teenager was seriously injured and placed in a medically-induced coma.
"I feel very devastated because they wiped out my entire family," said Vicente Peña, the father of Vicente Peña Jr., who died in the shooting, as well as the grandfather of the injured teenager.
According to authorities, the group was traveling in an SUV with Illinois license plates when they were attacked in what officials described as a surge in violent crime in the area.
Relatives on Monday continued to plead for answers on how the shooting unfolded - and who was responsible - as what exactly transpired remained unclear.
"It was a massacre....because my son was shot four times in the head and once in the shoulder, and the other boy was also shot four times, once in the shoulder, and the other boy who was with them was also shot three times," Peña said, translated from Spanish.
Local
Relatives asked that the teenager be transferred to the U.S. to receive specialized medical care, but doctors in Mexico didn't recommend the transfer, citing his fragile condition.
"I ask for justice," Maria Elena Hernandez, the teen's maternal grandmother said, translated from Spanish. "My child is a studious child. He is studying boxing. Thank God he will not leave us now, but they will not provide insurance for him anymore."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly> Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
The non-profit group United Giving Hope is helping the family with their efforts to bring the boy back to the U.S. As the non-profit seeks support for the teenager, its leadership issued a warning about a scam using his family's name.
"Unfortunately, there are criminals who also exist here in the United States who commit fraud, and there is an account right now that is in the media circles that does not belong to the Peña family," said Julie Contreras with United Giving Hope.
Relatives hope to give Peña Jr. and Fernandez a proper burial in Chicago in approximately two weeks.
