Peruvian singer fatally shot on tour bus, dumped in ditch

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A Peruvian singer was fatally shot by robbers who entered her band’s tour bus and then dumped her in a ditch to die.

Alezka Thalia Manrique Castillo, a 27-year-old mother, was returning from a performance with other members of the Hermanos Guerreros Orchestra at about 5 a.m. Monday in Bagua Grande when she was killed, the Daily Mail reported.

Six armed assailants stopped the bus and forced their way on, outlet A24 reported.

Castillo, who went by the stage name Thalia Castillo, tried to run to the back of the bus to lock herself in the bathroom for protection but was shot in the back and leg by one of the assailants, the report said.

The songstress was left to die in a ditch on the side of the road. She succumbed to her injuries while being rushed to hospital.

A representative for the orchestra told police that the gunmen beat other band members and forced them to look away as they robbed them.

“They took the orchestra’s pay and instruments,” Ingrid Vallejo said, according to the Daily Mail. “They didn’t let us see because they said that if we turned around to look, (they would shoot us).”

Castillo, who has a nine-year-old son, joined the band two months ago and was in the process of obtaining a degree in business administration, according to People en Espanol.

“She was a young woman who had a lot ahead of her, a lot to live for. She had great talent,” Ingrid said, according to the outlet. “She was very good and very dedicated to music.”

Jair Enrique, Castillo’s brother, told RPP radio on Monday that police have identified the suspects, according to the Daily Mail, but there was no word on any arrests.

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