Mayor Valentin Lavin was gunned down inside the city hall.
The security situation in Mexico continues to deteriorate, with even elected officials hunted down and killed at an alarming rate.
Since Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took office back in October 2024, at least 14 sitting mayors have been assassinated.
Of those, three mayors were killed just in the first half of 2026.
In the latest chapter of this horrific saga, a small-town mayor in central Mexico was shot dead inside the town hall after surviving a previous assassination attempt.
Más del homicidio del alcalde de Temoac, Morelos.
Dos sujetos ingresaron a la presidencia municipal para disparar en contra de Valentín Lavín y después escapar en una moto.
Más en https://t.co/BjdELZkpfR pic.twitter.com/3LoYcTQAGa
— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) July 22, 2026
#ÚLTIMAHORA Asesinan a balazos, en pleno Palacio Municipal, a Valentín Lavín, alcalde de Temoac, Morelos#JLMNoticias #Aguascalientes
pic.twitter.com/iXEjQDQuR4— José Luis Morales (@JLMNoticias) July 22, 2026
CBS News reported:
“The town of Temoac is located in the state of Morelos, a region close to Mexico City where several drug cartels are active.
Mayor Valentin Lavin, who was allied to President Claudia Sheinbaum’s leftist party, had already survived an armed attack in January, according to local media reports.”
Forensic experts and police officers located his dead body inside local government facilities, the state prosecutor’s office said.
An operation to arrest those responsible for the crime was underway, it added in a statement.
People brought flowers to the city hall in honor of Lavin, who became one of almost 100 mayors murdered in Mexico since drug-related violence surged in 2006.
¡COLOCAN OFRENDA EN MEMORIA DEL ALCALDE VALENTÍN LAVÍN ROMERO!
Trabajadores del Ayuntamiento colocaron una ofrenda floral y veladoras en el sitio donde quedó el cuerpo del alcalde #ValentínLavín Romero, ultimado la tarde de este miércoles cuando salía del #PalacioMunicipal.
El… pic.twitter.com/gC09yUAp1J
— 24 Morelos (@24_morelos) July 22, 2026
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