The first openly nonbinary magistrate in Mexico was allegedly murdered by their partner, who then took his own life at the couple’s home on Monday in the central state of Aguascalientes, a government official said. 

Dorian Nieves, 37, allegedly used a razor to cut Jesús Baena, 39, before killing himself with the same sharp object, state prosecutor Jesús Figueroa told Mexican news outlet Milenio on Tuesday.

‘The magistrate’s body has 20 wounds, a fatal one in the jugular, and his partner has wounds on his fingers that are caused, according to experts, precisely by the use of the razor … that (was) used as an instrument of aggression.’ 

Figueroa said investigators located blood stains on the second floor of the home and found the victims’ bodies in the first floor, where the Baena was killed and Nieves took his life.

He also ruled out the participation of a third person – security cameras only show them entering the home Monday around 1:16 am before they were found dead by the housemaid hours later.

‘There is no scientific information that allows us to establish that someone else entered, the only two people who were on the (property) are the two of them,’ Figueroa explained. ‘We see that the items of clothing they were wearing correspond to those they were wearing at the time they arrived at the (home), we see that these items of clothing are found in the bedroom where the blood prints were found. We believe that in the first moment there is a difference between them because the bodies were found on the ground floor.’

Jesús Baena (pictured), who in October 2022 became Mexico’s first openly nonbinary magistrate, was found dead alongside their partner at the couple’s home in the central state of Aguascalientes

Dorian Nieves (pictured) was found dead at the Aguascalientes home he shared with Jesús Baena, the first openly nonbinary person to be sworn in as a magistrate in Mexico 

Baena became the first openly nonbinary person to be sworn in to a judicial position for the Aguascalientes state electoral court in October 2022.

The magistrate was celebrated throughout Latin America for their tireless efforts to advance the rights of the LGBTQ community.

In June, Baena was among a group of people who were issued Mexico’s nonbinary passports. 

They regularly posted photos and videos of themselves wearing skirts, heels and flashing a rainbow fan in court offices to champion for the rights of the LGBTQ community, but at times received death threats from people who opposed his views.

Jesús Baena was recognized across Latin America for their efforts in working for the rights of the LGBTQ

People hold a candlelight vigil and a protest Monday evening in Aguascalientes, Mexico after the nation’s first openly nonbinary magistrate, Jesús Baena, and their partner, Dorian Nieves, were found dead in their home

 Drone footage shows forensic officers near the house of Mexico’s first openly non-binary magistrate, Jesús Baena, where Baena’s body was found next to their partner, Dorian Nieves. Authorities said that a sharp object was found in the hand of one of the victims

Jesús Baena had received death threats on social media because of his gender identity

In June, Baena took to X, formerly Twitter, to stress that they wanted to be recognized by their gender identity.

‘I am a nonbinary person, I am not interested in being seen as either a woman or a man,’ they wrote. ‘This is an identity. It is mine, for me, and nobody else. Accept it.’

Alejandro Brito, director of the LGBTQ rights group Letra S, said that the magistrate’s constant presence on social media made them a likely target 

‘They were a person who received many hate messages, and even threats of violence and death, and you can’t ignore that in these investigations,’ Brito said. ‘They, the magistrate, was breaking through the invisible barriers that closed in the nonbinary community.’

While Brito said Mexico has made significant steps in reducing levels of anti-LGBTQ violence in recent decades, his group registered a significant uptick in such violence in 2019, documenting at least 117 lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender people killed in the country.

Many were grisly killings, including brutal stabbings and public slayings.

The former chief justice of Mexico’s Supreme Court, Arturo Zaldivar, said he deeply lamented Baena’s death.

‘We lost a strong voice for equality and the rights of LGBTI+ people,’ he said in a social media post.