A 21-year-old Spanish exchange student was fatally stabbed in central Mexico, becoming the fourth female student connected to her host university to be killed or found dead after disappearing in just seven months.
Claudia Tacoronte was killed Saturday, Sept. 12, in Cuautla, a city in the state of Morelos about 60 miles south of Mexico City.
Authorities are investigating her death under femicide protocols.
Security footage from the area reportedly shows a man wearing a white shirt and carrying a black backpack fleeing near the Casa de la Cultura, where Tacoronte was found critically wounded.
Tacoronte was studying early-childhood education at the University of Granada in Spain and had arrived in Mexico in mid-August for an academic exchange at the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, known as UAEM.
She had traveled to Cuautla to attend a festival focused on medicinal plants.
Residents told local media they heard Tacoronte screaming for help during the attack.
Some people reportedly tried to chase the man seen fleeing the area but were unable to catch him.
Investigators are considering attempted robbery as one possible motive, although authorities have not announced a final conclusion.
Witnesses also claimed repeated calls for emergency help initially went unanswered and that police and medical crews took between 30 and 40 minutes to arrive.
However, those reported delays are based on witness accounts and have not been confirmed through official emergency records.
Tacoronte’s killing has also drawn attention to a disturbing series of deaths involving female students connected to UAEM.
Since February, three other young women affiliated with the university have been killed or found dead after disappearing.
Kimberly Ramos, an 18-year-old accounting student, disappeared Feb. 20 near UAEM’s Chamilpa campus in Cuernavaca.
Her body was found on March 2.
A fellow UAEM student was later arrested for his alleged involvement in her death.
Another student, 18-year-old Karol Toledo, disappeared March 2 in Mazatepec.
Her body was found three days later in Coatetelco.
Michelle Itzayana Fuentes Calderón, a 15-year-old high school student enrolled through a UAEM program, disappeared on May 24.
Her body was found June 2 in Tepoztlán.
Official figures cited by Reuters showed that Morelos recorded 21 femicides between January and July, while 380 were recorded across Mexico during the same period.
UAEM president Viridiana Aydeé León expressed outrage and sorrow following Tacoronte’s death.
“The Autonomous University of the State of Morelos expresses its profound indignation and joins the sorrow that engulfs the family of Claudia Tacoronte,” she said.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said officials were in contact with Tacoronte’s family and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
“We want to get to the bottom of this,” Albares said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said federal authorities were assisting with the investigation.
Students at UAEM held a silent vigil Monday, demanding justice for Tacoronte and greater protections for female students.
Back in Spain, the University of Granada held a minute of silence in her memory.
The university also canceled exchange placements for three students who had been scheduled to study in Morelos next semester.
