Leader of Tijuana Ritual Dies of Gas Poisoning

The spiritual leader of a Tijuana religious ritual that went awry when a lantern spewed carbon monoxide has become the 15th and last victim of the tragedy.

Federico Padres Mexia, 62, who had been comatose since the incident Dec. 13, died early Friday at Tijuana’s Social Security Clinic No. 20 of complications resulting from carbon monoxide poisoning, said Dr. Ariel Perez Munoz, the hospital’s director.

Mexia, a self-styled spiritual leader who lived in Southern California for some time, was leading the all-night ceremony, which occurred in the shantytown of Colonia Mariano Matamoros, when the poisoning took place. The ceremony coincided with a Mexican religious feast day honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Twelve people were found dead at the house, and five others were taken to the Tijuana clinic. One person died Dec. 20, followed by another on Dec. 28. Two others, an 8-month-old girl and her father, recuperated and were released.

The 17 people gathered in Mexia’s home were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes spewing from a faulty butane gas lamp, according to police. Mexia had lived in the home since July, 1990, and was sharing it with Gloria Miranda, who also died in the carbon monoxide poisoning. He often held religious ceremonies there, according to neighbors. He also had a home in Sun City in Riverside County.

At first there was speculation that the people died as a result of a mass suicide or as a result of eating or drinking poisonous food. The latter rumor was fueled by accounts that the group, most of them poor people who lived in the neighborhood, gathered within a circle of rope with 13 knots and burned ceremonial salts.

But autopsies showed the people were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. Police have ruled the deaths accidental.