‘I’m just glad that justice is finally happening’: homicide charges against Mexico hotel employees in death of Winnipeg man

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This article was published 23/05/2023 (915 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman whose husband was killed during their honeymoon at a resort in Mexico is relieved after learning prosecutors are proceeding with homicide charges against two suspects.

Stacey Ropos is hoping the decision is another step toward her finally being able to grieve the death of her longtime partner.

“I don’t really get the chance to deal with my grief because it’s not done,” she said of court proceedings. “I’m hoping when everything is done, I’ll have more of a moment.

“I’m just glad that justice is finally happening.”

Jesse Ropos, 36, died in a lobby at the Catalonia Yucatan Beach hotel in Puerto Aventuras in the early-morning hours of Jan. 13.

The gated community is about 75 kilometres southwest of Cancun on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.

Jesse and Stacey’s three children were with family in Manitoba at the time.

Stacey, who had returned to the couple’s room to get some rest for a morning flight, said hotel staff woke her up and took her to the lobby, where she was informed of her husband’s death.

She ran to his body, which was within a police cordon, and screamed at him to get up.

Stacey was told two resort employees restrained and put Jesse in a choke hold after he was removed from a bar for fighting with a fellow guest.

The cause of death was suffocation, according to an indictment dated May 10 and prepared by the Quintana Roo state attorney general’s office.

Stacey gave a copy of the indictment to the Free Press, after the document was emailed by her lawyer last week.

According to a translation of the document, which was in Spanish, prosecutors are pursuing a charge of qualified homicide against each employee.

The men are 34 and 36, respectively.

If convicted, the potential penalties include a 50-year prison sentence, a fine and financial compensation to Jesse’s family, the indictment said.

A qualified homicide charge is laid in killings which were allegedly intentional and/or had aggravating circumstances, such as an advantage over the victim, according to Mexico’s penal code.

Witnesses told investigators an employee restrained Jesse while a second worker put his arm around the victim’s neck in a choke hold, according to the document.

It said Jesse appeared unconscious or lifeless when the suspects let go of him.

A police officer later found no vital signs, and the man was pronounced dead, the indictment stated.

The decision by prosecutors followed a months-long investigation which prevented Jesse’s loved ones from going through with certain funeral rites.

Before she left Mexico a week after the homicide, Stacey signed a document agreeing not to have her husband cremated until the investigative period finished.

Family, who held a funeral service in January, will now proceed with cremation. His body has been held at a Winnipeg funeral home since it was returned to Manitoba.

“My kids just want him home. They just want their dad,” said Stacey.

In addition to urns, some of his ashes will be placed in custom locket necklaces to be worn by Stacey and the couple’s children. Each locket has an imprint of one of Jesse’s fingerprints.

Originally from Kenora, Ont., Jesse and his wife ran Winnipeg-based J. Ropos Flooring & Interiors.

They got married shortly after the birth of their youngest child, who recently turned nine. The children are doing as good as can be after losing their father, said Stacey.

“They’re strong. They miss their dad, and we’re getting through it together,” she said. “He’d want us to be happy and strong.”

The children don’t want her to return to Mexico, which is something that may be required given the court case against the suspects.

“They last time we went down there, they lost a parent,” said Stacey.

Trial dates have not been set, but the case is scheduled to return to court June 16.

Stacey said she will pursue a civil case once the criminal proceedings are resolved.

“I’m just glad that it’s not slipping through the cracks,” she said of the prosecution.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching