Mexican journalist Josué Martínez shot dead in Puebla, fourth killed in over a month

Mexico City, July 17, 2026—Mexican authorities must swiftly and credibly investigate the killing of 39-year-old Josué Martínez Contreras, who is the fourth Mexican journalist to be killed in the country in just over a month, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday.

Martínez, the founder and general director of the Facebook-based news site Noticias San Martín Texmelucan, was shot dead near his residence around 8 a.m. on Thursday by unidentified motorcyclists in the town of San Martín Texmelucan, in the central Mexican state of Puebla, according to news reports and a brief statement released by the Puebla state prosecutor’s office. Reports noted that the office is investigating Martínez’s killing and that the journalist was with his 13-year-old son during the attack.

“The brutal killing of Josué Martínez, in front of his child and in broad daylight, is the fourth such deadly attack on a Mexican journalist in just over four weeks in what is rapidly becoming one of the deadliest years in recent memory for the Mexican press,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “Time and time again Mexican authorities show their unwillingness to make the country safer for reporters by allowing these attacks to occur in almost complete impunity.”

Martínez’s killing follows the deaths of Mexican journalists Luis Ángel López, killed in Veracruz state on June 11, Roxana Guzmán, abducted June 2 in Veracruz and whose remains were identified on July 3, and Alex Serna, who was abducted in Guerrero state on June 20 and whose remains were found on July 3.

Martínez covered local news in Texmelucan, a town 45 miles east of Mexico City. He was also the founder of CRE-ARTE, an artistic and charitable foundation, had recently obtained a law degree and worked as a Physical Education teacher at a local public school.

On November 20, 2025, Martínez posted a short video on his personal Facebook page, in which he alleged that local government officials were illegally extracting drinking water and purposefully overcharging local residents, including himself. He added in the video that he had received threats over his public complaints about the issue, though he did not provide details as to who threatened him.

CPJ’s phone calls to the office of Texmelucan mayor Juan Manuel Alonso did not receive any reply. In a short video statement posted Thursday on the Texmelucan municipal government’s X account, Alonso condemned Martínez’s death.