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A Cuban woman, identified as Annalie Marino C. R., was seriously injured this Thursday after being shot in front of her home in Mérida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, an event that authorities are investigating as a attempted femicide allegedly ordered by her ex-husband.
The armed attack occurred between seven and eight in the morning, in the Las Américas subdivision to the north of the city, just minutes after the victim dropped her children off at school and had returned home, according to information from the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) cited by media outlets.
Annalie sustained two gunshot wounds, one of which was to the head, and lay on the ground outside her own home, in critical condition.
According to a report from the Diario de Yucatán, a witness passing by the scene saw a man approach the woman and open fire at her from close range; then he ran to the corner, a few meters from the house, and escaped on a motorcycle down 45 Diagonal Street.
"When the woman left, the man approached and fired his weapon. He then fled on a motorcycle," the witness told officials from the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) and the State Investigation Police (PEI).
Residents of the neighborhood called emergency number 9-1-1 upon hearing the gunshots. Paramedics from the Secretary of Public Security provided immediate assistance to the victim and urgently transported them to a hospital due to the severity of the injuries caused by the firearm.
The main line of investigation suggests that the alleged mastermind behind the attack is Ibrahim Ahmad Hussein Hamdan, originally from Jordan, with whom Annalie is currently undergoing legal divorce proceedings. The notification of the proceedings had been published in the Official Journal of the State of Yucatán on May 25, just three days before the attack.
Although the authorities have not confirmed it, preliminary reports circulated by the press indicate that Ibrahim Ahmad hired the services of a hitman to carry out the attack after becoming upset upon receiving the divorce notification through the victim's lawyers.
So far, the authorities have not released official information regarding the motive behind the attack.
After the attack, the SSP activated the Red Code and launched a wide-ranging operation led by Deputy Secretary Carlos Eduardo Flores Moo, with checkpoints at the entrances of the housing development and patrols at various locations in Mérida and state highways.
The motorcycle allegedly used by the attacker was found abandoned on 112th Street with 45C, just a few meters from an apartment building that, according to reports, would belong to the ex-husband.
The Prosecutor's Office collected evidence at the scene: blood samples, the cartridge from the weapon, and recordings from surveillance cameras in the victim's house and nearby homes.
In the afternoon, it emerged that the PEI may have arrested Ibrahim Ahmad, although this information has not been officially confirmed. The SSP indicated that, given this is an ongoing investigation, "at this time it is not possible to provide further information so as not to jeopardize the legal inquiries."
The couple's children were secured by police officers at the school and taken to a safe location, along with an elderly woman of unknown relation. Neighbors reported that another woman of Cuban origin resides on the upper level of the victim's house.
The incident occurs during a week of extreme violence against women in Mérida, the capital of Yucatán. On May 25, a femicide was reported along with two minors injured, followed by the death of the aggressor, in the Real Montejo subdivision; and this Wednesday, a suspected femicide was recorded in San José Tecoh. Last February, Yucatán approved a law that punishes femicide with up to 70 years in prison, surpassing the federal penalty.
During 2025, at least 12 Cuban women were murdered by their partners or ex-partners outside of the island, according to the femicide registry of the Gender Observatory of Alas Tensas and the platform Yo Sí Te Creo in Cuba. Most of the crimes were reported in the United States, with six; followed by Mexico and Spain (two each), and Guyana and Suriname with one, respectively.
The organizations also documented six attempted femicides: four in the U.S., one in Spain, and another in Suriname.
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