A Baja California court sentenced a man to 48 years and four months in prison for the 2024 femicide of 14-year-old Ariday Rendón Zamora, a secondary school student and amateur boxer killed in her home in Tecate.
The Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), Baja California’s state attorney general’s office, announced the conviction of Ismael “N,” known as “El Chino,” following an abbreviated proceeding. In addition to the prison term, the judge ordered him to pay a fine of 54,285 pesos (roughly $2,700 USD) and 685,071 pesos (about $34,250 USD) in reparations to the victim’s mother.
Shot While Sleeping in Her Tecate Home
The crime took place in the early hours of September 18, 2024, at a residence on Calle Juan Campos in the La Viñita neighborhood of Tecate. According to court records, the attacker, who was 19 at the time and known to the victim, broke into the home while the family slept. He found Ariday in her room, where she was sleeping next to her nine-month-old brother, and shot her in the forehead.
Ariday’s mother confronted the intruder, and he fired at her before fleeing the scene. The family rushed the teenager to an IMSS clinic in Tecate, but she died the same day. Investigators later determined the attacker had an obsession with the girl. He claimed the two had a romantic relationship, but authorities confirmed he was a rejected pursuer.
Community Protests and a Lengthy Investigation
The killing shook the small border city of Tecate, about 35 miles east of Tijuana. Feminist collectives, friends, and relatives organized a protest march on October 4, 2024, at Tecate’s Monumento a la Madre, chanting “ni una asesinada más” (not one more murdered woman). The case drew national media attention because of the victim’s age and the violent circumstances.
Ariday was a third-year student at Escuela Secundaria Francisco I. Madero. She was also a promising amateur boxer who went by the ring name “La Cobrita” (the little cobra).
Arrest and Abbreviated Trial
Authorities arrested Ismael “N” on October 28, 2024, roughly six weeks after the killing. The case was prosecuted by the FGE’s specialized unit for crimes against life. He was also charged with attempted homicide for shooting at the victim’s mother. The proceeding concluded through Mexico’s abbreviated trial process, in which the defendant accepts responsibility in exchange for a streamlined hearing. The final sentence was handed down in May 2026.
The reparations payment ordered for the surviving mother is notable, as such awards are frequently mandated by Mexican courts but rarely collected in practice. The case was first reported by Jornada BC.