Mayor of city in Mexico killed in apparent decapitation

The mayor of a town in southern Mexico was brutally murdered less than a week after he took office, as photos circulated of his severed head sitting on a pickup truck.

Alexander Arcos was killed on Sunday, just six days after he was elected the mayor of Chilpancingo, a city around 170 miles south of Mexico City with a population of around 280,000. Officials confirmed the murder from the gory photos of his decapitated head, which were shared on messaging platform WhatsApp this week.

On Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said investigations into Arcos' death were underway by the secretaries of security, defense and the Marines to uncover a motive and catch those responsible.

"We are going to fortify the intelligence investigative capabilities of the Mexican government," she told reporters.

Chilpancingo is the capital of the violence-ridden state of Guerrero, one of the deadliest for politicians and journalists. Just three days before Arcos' killing, Francisco Tapia, the city's new government secretary, was shot dead. And six political candidates in the state were killed in the run-up to elections in June.

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Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda vowed to bring the killers to justice in a post to X on Sunday. The state's attorney general had already initiated an investigation into the killing, she said.

"His loss has saddened all of Guerrero society and fills us with indignation," she wrote.

At his inauguration, Arcos had promised a "renewal project" that would return peace to the city.

"Together we'll build a Chilpancingo of peace, a Chilpancingo that will be the home our children deserve," he said.

Relatives, friends, and Chilpancingo citizens gathered and shed tears as Arcos' coffin was carried through the city streets during a funeral ceremony on Monday, the Chilpancingo Sun reported .

Contributing: Diana Garcia for the Arizona Republic ; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mayor of city in Mexico killed in apparent decapitation