Escapee Sought in Killing of Priest

Mexican authorities are searching for a drug cartel gunman in connection with last week’s execution-style slaying of a Tijuana priest.

Luis Chavez Garcia, a 31-year-old career criminal who escaped from prison last year, is believed to have shot Father Luis Velazquez Romero six times in a popular restaurant district, police said.

The priest was killed after attempting to break up a bar fight between Chavez’s associates and another group, police said.

Police have been under pressure to solve the priest’s slaying amid a violent crime wave in which the city has broken last year’s record of 355 homicides.

Last week, police arrested three other men who allegedly acted as lookouts while Chavez handcuffed and shot the priest in his car.

Enrique Bracamontes Garciduenas, 22, Julio Antonio Arreola Mendez, 22, and David Toris Cervantes, 23, are part of the Arrelano Felix drug cartel, police said.

They confessed to at least 14 murders and kidnappings in a crime spree that has targeted prominent businessmen and merchants in the Tijuana area, police said.

The men were arrested last week after they allegedly killed a Rosarito Beach developer. Police said they confessed to the crime spree shortly thereafter.

In the priest’s slaying, Chavez was identified as the lead suspect when police matched his fingerprint to a beer bottle left at the scene of the crime.

Velazquez, police said, had gone to the Plaza Fiesta early Sunday morning to have a drink and read the newspaper when the fight broke out.

Chavez, police said, did not know that Velazquez, who was dressed in civilian clothes, was a priest.

His death touched off an outpouring of grief and anger after police said the slaying suggested an organized crime hit.