Jesus Ociel Baena Saucedo (they/them), Mexico's first openly non-binary magistrate and well-known LGBTQ activist, was discovered dead at their house on Monday, November 13, in the state of Aguascalientes, which is located in the central region of the country.
Authorities in the state of Aguascalientes, located around 500 kilometers (300 miles) to the northwest of the capital city, report that Baena's love partner was also discovered dead in the house where the two of them lived.
Accident or Murder?
According to Mexico's Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodrguez, the cause of death remains unclear. "We don't know yet ... if it was a homicide or if it was some kind of accident," she stated during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's daily news conference, the New York Post reported. "The investigation is going to be done."
Aguascalientes' Attorney General Jess Figueroa added there is currently no evidence to suggest that the death was the result of any kind of foul play.
The district attorney's office has said that the initial findings show that there were no traces of blood discovered outside of the crime scene and no damage found in the accessways to the residence. They are also ruling out the presence of a third person as a factor in the deaths. The office said in its statement that "one of the lifeless bodies found was holding a cutting instrument."
Although there was no mention of the killings possibly being connected to a hate crime, Figueroa said that the matter would be examined from a gender perspective since Baena identified as a non-binary person.
Advocacy-Related Death Threats
Advocates for LGBTQ rights noted that Baena had been intimidated because of their advocacy.
"They were a person who received many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death, and you can't ignore that in these investigations. They, the magistrate, was breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the nonbinary community," said Alejandro Brito, head of the LGBTQ rights organization Letra S, according to CBS News.
Brito claimed that Baena's online prominence made the judge a target and wanted authorities to include this fact in their thorough, unbiased inquiry.
Thousands of people in the center of Mexico City mirrored Brito's sentiments, holding candles over pictures of Baena and other victims of anti-LGBTQ+ violence. The crowd chanted "Justice" and "We won't stay silent" as they requested an investigation into the killings.
Baena served on the Electoral Tribunal in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes for a little over a year.
In an interview with CNN from October 2022, Baena said emphatically that no non-binary person had ever served as a magistrate in Latin America. Baena said that becoming the first was a significant accomplishment and validation of their efforts to advance LGBTQ rights over the years.
