Aleyda Romero was 21 years old and cared for the children of Jonathan Meléndez, keyboardist and co-founder of the Mexican band Camilo Séptimo. On September 1, she was in the family’s apartment in Atizapán de Zaragoza when the attack occurred that claimed the lives of the musician, his pregnant wife, his 3-year-old daughter, and Aleyda herself.
But she is believed to have played a decisive role in ensuring that one of the children survived.
According to accounts reported by Mexican media, Aleyda was with Meléndez’s 6-year-old son when the events began. The young woman reportedly asked him to hide and not leave the room, no matter what he heard.
The boy obeyed and remained hidden. Aleyda, by contrast, reportedly left the room to try to help the rest of the family. She was found dead shortly afterward.
The boy was the only survivor of the attack. The Prosecutor’s Office has not yet publicly confirmed all the details of this reconstruction, and Aleyda’s relatives have said that they had also not received enough official information to confirm exactly how those minutes unfolded.
Aleyda was originally from San Martín Cuautlalpan, in Chalco. Her relatives remember her as a hardworking and responsible young woman who dedicated herself to caring for the Meléndez family’s children.
Now, as the investigation continues and two suspects remain in pretrial detention, her story has begun to take on a life of its own: that of a 21-year-old woman who, according to this account, got a child to safety before confronting a situation from which she could no longer escape.