News photographer killed in northern Mexico stabbing attack

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A news photographer is dead after he was stabbed and beaten in an attack in the northern Mexico border state of Baja California, state prosecutors said Thursday.

José Ramiro Araujo died of stab wounds in the Pacific coast city of Ensenada, about 104 kilometers (64 miles) south of Tijuana. The attack on Araujo Tuesday, in which he also was beaten, may have been a robbery attempt, prosecutors said.

Police arrested two youths on a beach near the scene of the attack who they said had a knife and blood stains on their clothing. The suspects face charges of homicide and robbery.

Local media reported that Araujo, 67, had been photographing a festival in Ensenada for a local magazine and that the youths allegedly tried to steal his camera.

The year 2022 was among the deadliest ever for Mexican media workers, with 15 killed.

One of Mexico’s best-known journalists escaped unharmed after two gunmen on a motorcycle tried to kill him in a late-night attack on a Mexico City street in December.