A FIVE-year-old boy was allegedly killed by three members of the same family after his mum failed to repay a £40 debt.
Fernando was held captive for at least eight days before his body was found dumped among piles of rubbish.
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The murder of the child, identified only as Fernando, has shocked the municipality of Los Reyes La Paz, located just east of Mexico City.
Three people have been arrested and are being held in pre-trial detention, according to Mexican news agency Noticieros Televisa.
At an initial hearing, prosecutors presented a timeline alleging that the child was forcibly taken and held captive in the suspects’ home for at least eight days.
When police officers visited the property on Monday, they reported a “rotten smell” that led them to discover Fernando’s body hidden in sacks.
Fernando died from a skull fracture and also had injuries to his arms, legs and chest, according to the forensic report.
Three months earlier, his mum, Noemí Gómez, had reportedly borrowed 1,000 pesos – around £40 – from the family whose home he was later found in, to help cover the rent on her new place.
The three loan sharks kidnapped Fernando from his home on July 28, telling his mum they would hold him hostage until she repaid the debt.
Gómez said she visited her son on several occasions, but each time the group refused to release him because she was unable to pay them back.
Gómez’s neighbour, María Pascual, told Noticieros Televisa: “The day she went to ask for her child, they tried to beat her because she couldn’t speak well.
“She’s a person who doesn’t know how to defend herself.”
The worried mum, who is said to have a speech impediment, then went to La Paz’s Public Ministry to file a missing person’s report.
But it wasn’t until the case was reported to the State of Mexico Women’s Ministry that an official investigation was launched.
On Monday, officers raided a home in the Ejidal El Pino neighbourhood of La Paz, where the alleged killers live.
During the hearing on Thursday, two of the suspects chose not to speak.
The third, a woman identified only as Lilia N, denied the charges.
She claimed that Fernando’s mother had asked her to care for him for a week while she moved house, and had also borrowed a wheelbarrow to help with the move.
Lilia also said Fernando had been unwell and that she took him to the doctor three times.
She claimed he was injured in two separate falls – once hitting his head on a washbasin and again while bathing.
However, prosecutors presented a very different timeline of events.
They argue that the suspects told the boy’s mum he was with his father and grandfather, when he was not.
When officers arrived at the suspects’ home to look for Fernando, they said: “He ran away and we couldn’t find him.”
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Gómez told reporters that Fernando was a “loving kid”.
She added: “He wasn’t to blame for anything that happened. I want justice for him.”
The suspects, currently being held in a jail in Nezahualcóyotl, are facing charges of kidnapping and aggravated homicide.
They were due to appear in court on Friday but have reportedly requested more time to gather evidence.
The trial is scheduled to continue on Monday.
It comes as a Mexican Masterchef star and TikTok influencer died in a car crash.
Yanin Campos, 38, appeared as a contestant on the hit cooking show in 2018.
She was driving in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico, on Saturday when she reportedly lost control of her SUV.
