Jesus Rafael Diaz a.k.a. Rafa Wayne, a Mexican Uber driver, and Tiktoker known for sharing drive-along videos as he drove customers, was robbed and murdered during a live broadcast. On December 11, 2023, late at night, near Parajes del Sol in Ciudad Juarez, a tragic incident occurred.
Rafa picked up a customer in Paso Del Norte, Chihuahua on Monday while continuing to livestream. During the journey, the robber, who pretended to be a customer, is heard yelling (translated from Google): “I’m telling you, give me the f*cking phone number and the current password.”
According to The Yucatan Times, the TikToker was threatened with a gun. The broadcast was cut short moments later, leaving viewers with no choice but to pray. According to Infobae, Rafa’s vehicle was found at Yepómera and Salvador Dalí streets.
Following the incident, his friends and family, as well as various Uber drivers, took to the streets, demonstrating outside the Prosecutor’s Office, demanding justice for Rafa and improved driver safety.
Police have arrested three people in connection with Rafa Wayne’s homicide, making him the fourth driver killed in the last few months
Rafa Wayne had a TikTok following of 71k and a Facebook following of 5k. He frequently shared updates on what he saw during his rides, such as interesting people he met and police activity. He proposed forming a support group for ride-share drivers in the area so that they could share information and warn each other of potentially dangerous areas.
As word of the incident spread, several drivers stated that they were frequent victims of violent assaults near the US-Mexico border.
Ismael Villagomez, a photographer for El Heraldo de Juarez, had been murdered while working as a driver just a month before.
Initially, Chihuahua Deputy Attorney General Carlos Manuel Salas stated that investigators were looking into Rafa Wayne’s cellphone and checking security cameras in the area of the robbery. According to KTSM, law enforcement officers announced the arrest of two men and three teenagers with a 9mm handgun on Tuesday. Investigators believe the weapon was used to assassinate Rafa Wayne.
The Secretary of Municipal Public Safety announced in a statement that the descriptions of two teenagers, 18-year-old Braian Alejandro S.M. and a 16-year-old unidentified boy, “coincide(d) with the description of those responsible.”
According to the statement, once police began questioning the detainees, they immediately turned on each other. The five were initially arrested for intoxication after officers discovered the gun and four doses of crystal meth on them.
Along with Alejandro, Hugo Renato, 36, Marcos Jaciel, 24, and another unidentified minor were arrested.
Rafa Wayne’s murder occurred during a violent 24-hour period in Ciudad Juarez, during which 11 people were violently murdered. A home invasion in the Lucio Blanco neighborhood resulted in the deaths of two men and a woman in a bedroom.
Another incident involved the murder at point-blank range of a man and a woman sitting inside a car by the passenger of a car that stopped next to theirs.