Killing of Ingrid Escamilla

On 9 February 2020, Ingrid Escamilla Vargas, a 25-year-old woman originally from Puebla who was living in the Vallejo neighborhood of Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City, was killed by her boyfriend, Erick Francisco Robledo Rosas, a 46-year-old civil engineer. The two had been in a relationship for five years, and Robledo Rosas's ex-wife had previously filed a domestic violence complaint against him.

The killing occurred after an argument in which Robledo Rosas became enraged after being questioned about drinking alcohol, leading to a physical fight in which he sustained several slashes. He then stabbed Escamilla multiple times in the neck, killing her, and subsequently removed skin and organs from her body, attempting unsuccessfully to dispose of them via the toilet before wrapping the remains in a bag to discard on the street. Robledo Rosas's son, who reportedly has autism, is reported to have witnessed the killing. Robledo Rosas called his ex-wife (the child's mother) to confess, and she alerted police, who arrived to find him with the body. He was arrested and consigned to a public ministry; videos circulated on social media showing him in custody with bloodied clothes, confessing to the crime.

Escamilla's body was released to her family on 10 February and buried on 11 February in Juan Galindo, her hometown municipality, following a lying-in-state attended by roughly 300 mourners demanding justice. On 12 February 2020, a Mexico City judge found sufficient elements of guilt based on the investigation from the Attorney General of Mexico City (FGJCDMX) to order Robledo Rosas held in preventive detention. After he indicated he would attempt suicide, he was ordered to undergo psychological evaluation at a psychosocial rehabilitation center within a Mexico City men's prison.

The case gained significant national attention after tabloid newspapers ¡Pásala! and La Prensa published graphic crime-scene photographs of Escamilla's body on 10 February 2020, which then spread across social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook. This triggered widespread public outrage and a national debate about media practices, gender-based violence, and the normalization of violence against women in Mexican media coverage. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced sanctions would be pursued, and an internal investigation was opened into six public servants suspected of leaking the images. Mexico City prosecutor Ernestina Godoy Ramos condemned the leak and proposed a law penalizing officials who distribute images of crime victims.

The events prompted protests in at least ten Mexican states on 14 February 2020, including one in Mexico City where demonstrators set fire to a vehicle belonging to La Prensa. A social media campaign using Escamilla's name alongside unrelated images sought to displace the leaked photographs from search results. International and civil society bodies, including the UN Human Rights office and the organization Article 19, condemned both the killing and the image dissemination. Robledo Rosas was ultimately convicted and sentenced to the maximum penalty of 70 years in prison.