Mother claims Mexican mayor BRIBED her with $125,000 payout to stop pursuing investigation into four cops who 'raped and beat her 23-year-old son to death'
The mother of a 23-year-old man who was allegedly beaten and raped by four police officers in Mexico claims she was bribed with $125,000 payout by the city's mayor to stop pursuing an investigation into her son's death.
MarÃa Ravelo alleges that Mérida mayor Renán Barrera made the approach during a meeting Wednesday, exactly a week after José Eduardo Ravelo's death.
He died at AgustÃn O'Horan General Hospital last Tuesday - a week after he'd allegedly been raped and beaten to death by four police officers.
Jose Eduardo Ravelo was allegedly beaten and raped by cops in Mérida, Mexico, on July 21. He died at a local hospital August 3. The 23-year-old cause of death was a result of 'multiple organ destruction syndrome and multiple trauma.' His mother, MarÃa Ravelo, claimed Tuesday that the mayor, Renán Barrera, offered her $125,000 so that she does not seek justice for her son's death. Four cops are in custody
MarÃa Ravelo said during Tuesday's meeting with Mérida mayor Renán Barrera, city officials wanted 'to repair the damage. I want to think that what they were going to propose to me was to give me money and the thing that interested me the least was that'
'They told me they wanted to repair the damage. I want to think that what they were going to propose to me was to give me money and the thing that interested me the least was that,' Ravelo said, according Mexican digital news outlet La Silla Rota.
Ravelo added that she felt the mayor and city officials were looking to catch her without her lawyer present to make another proposal.
As part of the offer, she would have withdrawn the incident report she had filed with the Yucatán State Attorney General.
'I only want the guilty ones. I reiterate that there were not only four (officers responsible, there were more, including the witnesses, the bosses, they are all guilty,' Ravelo said. 'I do not have confidence in the authorities, only in the State Attorney General.'
DailyMail.com reached out to mayor Barrera for comment. Multiple text messages sent to a number listed for him were not returned.
DailyMail.com reached out to Mérida, Mexico mayor Renán Barrera for comment. He reportedly offered $125,000 to MarÃa Ravelo, the mother of 23-year-old José Eduardo Ravelo, who died August 3, almost two weeks after he was allegedly raped and beaten by four cops, who are in custody. The alleged offer was made Wednesday during a meeting between Barrera, MarÃa Ravelo, her lawyer and city officials
José Eduardo Ravelo died at AgustÃn O'Horan General Hospital last Tuesday as a result of the injuries he sustained during the alleged July 21 attack.
In early July, he decided to move to M̩rida Рconsidered one of the safest cities in all of Mexico Рfrom Veracruz - one of the most dangerous states Рas he sought new opportunities away from his hometown.
Ravelo was on his way to a job interview when the Merida Municipal Police agents stopped him near a park and tossed him inside a patrol car.
The cops allegedly beat him inside the vehicle and then continued the assault inside the police precinct before releasing him July 22.
Following the incident, Ravelo reached out to his mother seeking assistance. She eventually rushed to his side July 24 only to find him spitting out blood and took him to O'Horan General Hospital, where a doctor questioned the version of the events.
Four police offices from the Mérida Municipal Police in Mérida, Mexico, were arrested Saturday for their roles in the death of José Eduardo Ravelo. Each of the four cops were formally charged Monday with aggravated gang murder, aggravated rape and aggravated torture
MarÃa Ravelo recalled the doctor asking her son, 'How is it that the police raped you? Could it be that you are gay?' according to La Silla Rota.
Since the family did not have money to cover the expense of the required chest x-rays, the doctor instructed the family to visit they Yucatan State Attorney General's Office where they were told to file a report and see the prosecution's medical staff.
Tests done by a practitioner confirmed that Ravelo had been raped.
A hospital report showed he suffered extensive damage to his kidneys, skull and had blood in his lungs.
Ravelo was hospitalized several days later before dying.
A forensic report ruled his death was a result of 'multiple organ destruction syndrome and multiple trauma.'
Each of the four cops were formally charged Monday with aggravated gang murder, aggravated rape and aggravated torture.
MarÃa Ravelo learned her 'son was raped inside the same jail' after she spoke to a lawyer with the prosecutor's office, who showed her a video of the jail cell area in which loud screams were heard.
'He told me on the phone that it took place in the patrol car. With the facts that were presented, I understood he was raped several times in the patrol car and the jail. He only did not know how to explain everything to me.'
Mayor Barrera said there is video footage that captures the 24-hour period that Jose Eduardo Ravelo spent in police custody.
He told El Heraldo Radio on Tuesday that Ravelo was arrested for disorderly conduct in public, and added that police dispatchers had received two calls the night of incident to report that Ravelo was throwing rocks near a taxi stand in the Mérida neighborhood of San Juan.