Chuy Montana Killed for Singing Songs ‘That Did Not Please One of His Aggressors,’ Authorities Say

A quarrel over alleged musical differences led to the murder of emerging corrido bélicos artist Chuy Montana two weeks ago, after he performed “songs … that did not please one of his aggressors” at a private party in a Tijuana motel, according to the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office.

The head of the agency, María Elena Andrade Ramírez, said during a Tuesday (Feb. 20) press conference that the reason for the murder of the singer, and another person who was his driver, was not because of his performance of narcocorridos — drug ballads that are banned in the border city — but because he continued singing songs that his assailants did not like.

“Apparently it was sentimental issues that influenced one of the aggressors,” Andrade Ramirez said at the press conference, which the prosecutor’s office provided a recording of to Billboard Español. “We are still in further investigation, but yes they were songs, let’s say, that did not please one of the aggressors.”

“Maybe the situation was exacerbated by the state of drunkenness and drug use in which they were, because it is not common for them to have taken his life for that reason,” added the official after pointing out that they had all been consuming alcohol and drugs earlier that day.

According to initial investigations, in one of the searches at the Dubai Motel, located in the municipality of Rosarito, an ID of the singer and a gunshot wound were found.

The prosecutor said that after the argument, Montana was taken out of the motel in a vehicle, according to a video in possession of the Baja California District Attorney’s Office. She said that the recording also shows that the victim tried to get out of the vehicle, but he remained handcuffed and guarded by his assailants.

Montana’s body was found on Feb. 7 on the side of the Playas de Rosarito-Tijuana highway in the northern Mexican state of Baja California, with signs of violence and his hands handcuffed, according to an information card issued that day by the Baja California District Attorney’s Office.

Authorities ruled out any indication that organized crime was behind the murder of Montana — whose real name was Jesús Cárdenas — and his companion. The prosecutor said that so far, one person has been arrested and investigations are underway.

Tijuana is considered the fifth most violent city in Mexico, according to the 2022 ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world compiled by the Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal organization.

Montana, known for songs such as “Porte de Scarface” and “Qué Bendición,” was part of the roster of Street Mob Records, the label headed by Jesús Ortiz Paz (JOP) of Fuerza Regida.