US Consulate Mom, Spouse Killed in Mexico

Couple's baby escapes injury in shooting
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 15, 2010 1:48 AM CDT
Updated Mar 15, 2010 4:00 AM CDT

An employee of the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez and her husband were shot dead while driving home with their baby, who escaped injury, officials said yesterday. Lesley Enriquez, 35, and Arthur Redelfs, 34, were returning from a child's birthday party with others when gunmen stopped their cars at an intersection and opened fire. Police discovered the couple dead of bullet wounds, their baby screaming in the backseat. A third adult, the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate, was also killed and two children in his car were injured.

Despite the ever-escalating violence of Mexico's drug war, this is the first time in years that gangsters have attacked US diplomatic personnel, reports the Los Angeles Times. President Obama said in a statement that he "shares in the outrage of the Mexican people at the murders of thousands in Ciudad Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico." Consulate workers in six northern Mexico states were told yesterday they could send their families back to America.

(More Ciudad Juarez stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X