Mexico's Drug War: 7-Month-Old Baby Shot During Gang Crossfire, Sparks Outrage

The brutal death of a seven-month-old baby at the hands of armed men ignited outrage in Mexico.

A photo of the dead baby lying bloodied and lifeless between his parents circulated on the Internet this week. CNN reported from the Oaxaca State Attorney's Office that the picture was taken moments after the family was fatally shot outside a convenience store in the city of Pinotepa Nacional in Oaxaca State.

The snapshot showed the baby in a white onesie stained with blood, lying with his head down between his father's torso and left arm, the news outlet wrote.

Authorities said that several armed men shot the family of three to death. Oaxaca prosecutors told CNN that the father was Juan Alberto Pano Ramos, 24, who was carrying his son, Marcos Miguel Pano Colón, when they were gunned down on Friday at 8:40 PM. The mother, 17-year-old Alba Isabel Colón, was also killed.

The picture sparked outrage among Mexicans, who urged authorities to do more to address the country's prevalent drug wars, The Independent reported. Some even likened the baby's death to Aylan Kurdi's, the three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea and was found lifeless in a beach in Turkey. Kurdi symbolized the threats of the ongoing refugee crisis.

"Do you remember the Syrian boy? Do you remember how you came to be indignant and even put a little flag on Facebook? Well, this happened in Mexico, in Pinotepa National to be precise, where drug violence killed this family, including this 7-month-old angel," a Facebook post read.

Author Octavio Martínez Michel posted a photo depicting the Mexican flag with a drawing of the dead baby in the background. The image was published on the website La Silla Rota (The Broken Chair).

"Is it possible to imagine anything more unjust than the cold-blooded murder of a family carrying a baby in their arms?" Martínez wrote, as translated by CNN.

Cartoonist and illustrator Rafael Pineda, or 'Rapé', put the two children alongside each other in a drawing titled "Our World." Meanwhile, Twitter user Personal Jesus said that Mexicans "are more compassionate with others" than themselves, as translated by NBC News.

The Oaxaca State Attorney's Office said that the killing appears to be drug-related, CNN reported. Prosecutors said that the baby's parents sold drugs and a rival drug gang from the neighboring state of Guerrero found and killed them.

Authorities said that an alleged drug trafficker named Isidoro Gonzáles Gerónimo, a.k.a. "El Isis," was also fatally shot in Oaxaca last Friday, the news outlet added. The couple reportedly worked for Gonzáles, who conducted operations in Guerrero.