Oaxaca prosecutors say tracing Zaira Marbeli Hernández Gaspar’s missing phone led to a neighbor’s arrest in the Universidad del Mar student’s killing.
Oaxaca prosecutors confirmed Sunday that investigators had arrested a neighbor of Zaira Marbeli Hernández Gaspar in the killing of the Universidad del Mar student. The arrest took place Saturday, November 7, following a search for her missing phone that led investigators to the person who said he bought it. The suspect was identified as Gonzalo “N”; the state prosecutor’s office identifies him by the initials G. A. A. Fiscalía General de Estado de Oaxaca
Zaira had moved from Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz to study international relations and was in her first semester. She rented a room in a building in Sector H3 of La Crucecita, in Santa María Huatulco, where the suspect also lived. Prosecutors allege that he entered her room before dawn on November 3, sexually assaulted and strangled her, then took her phone to sell it.
Investigators traced the phone and analyzed telephone records to locate the device and its buyer. Prosecutors say the buyer gave them information identifying Gonzalo as the seller and helping them locate him. The coastal regional prosecutor’s office obtained an arrest warrant from a judge in San Pedro Pochutla. State investigators took him into custody, and he was turned over to prosecutors and judicial authorities in the femicide case. The announcement did not report a subsequent court ruling.
Before the arrest, students and faculty had already taken their demands beyond the campus. Students demonstrated at Universidad del Mar and blocked Federal Highway 200, calling for justice and greater safety for classmates who move away from home and rent off campus. Faculty members urged the university to adopt a student safety and well-being plan with concrete commitments and deadlines.
The building itself has also drawn scrutiny. There are reports that Zaira was the second woman found dead at the property. The other woman has been identified as Norma Hernández López, found dead there on June 4. The prosecutor’s announcement in Zaira’s case did not link Gonzalo to Norma’s death or establish a connection between the two investigations.
