Rubén Manuel Espinosa Becerril was born in Mexico City on November 29th, 1983. The youngest of three brothers, he grew up in the popular Tacubaya neighborhood. Although he did not study photography or journalism, Rubén learned to use a camera when he joined the CHS collective. In 2009 he went to work in Veracruz, in Xalapa, where he worked for news agencies, for Javier Duarte’s electoral campaign, and the Social Communication office of the Xalapa City Hall. Restless, always looking to help, he began to portray the violence and social malaise in the entity. When he started to feel harassed and watched, he sought refuge in Mexico City. His friends described him as very calm, as someone who, indeed, did not believe in the State because he knew that there were people who attacked journalists, but he was not paranoiac like some said.
On July 30th, 2015, Ruben asked his friend Antonio Contreras to go with him to pick up his credential at the National Electoral Institute. Then they met Nadia at a bar in the Historic Center, and ended up in Nadia’s apartment. On July 31st, Rubén never answered his friends and sister’s messages. On August 1st, her sister called Antonio, worried, and they went to the Narvarte building. There, the police told them that there had been a multiple-homicide. She burst into tears. Later, the authorities confirmed what she already feared.
