Mexican Singer Murdered

A Norteño singer who denied reports that he’d been killed was shot dead just hours after his interview with a Mexican entertainment website.

Sergio Vega was driving through the northern state of Sinaloa to a gig June 26 when unidentified gunmen following the vehicle began shooting, reportedly peppering Vega’s car with more than 30 bullets, authorities said.

A passenger in Vega’s car, Sergio Montiel Avila, told Mexico’s El Debate newspaper that one of the bullets wounded Vega in the neck, causing him to lose control of the vehicle and crash before the assailants “finished him off” by shooting him in the head and chest.

Vega’s death is the latest in a string of killings of Mexican musicians in recent years, many of which have targeted artists that sing narcocorridos, or ballads that sometimes celebrate the lives of drug traffickers.

During his interview with the La Oreja website, he denied rumors he’d been killed and even mentioned recent measures he’d taken to increase security.

“It has happened to me for years now – someone tells a radio or newspaper I have been killed, or suffered an accident,” he said. “And then I have to call my dear mother, who has heart trouble, to reassure her.”

Vega’s career began after moving from Mexico to Phoenix during the 1980s. He started the group Los Hermanos Vega with his brothers and later Los Shakas Del Norte before returning to Mexico in the ’90s.