Cheap Life

A 17-year-old Tijuana boy faces up to 50 years in prison after his May 13 arrest for the alleged murder of a man who refused to lend the teen five pesos — about 38 cents.

Alejandro Salas Díaz allegedly beat 47-year-old Juan Gutiérrez Gonzalez to death with a wooden club at around 7 p.m. on May 9 in Tijuana’s Lomas de San Antonio neighborhood after Gutiérrez turned down the teen’s request for money, according to a statement issued by the Baja California attorney general’s office.

When the teenager allegedly began beating Gutiérrez with the club, Gutiérrez tried to run away but was pursued by Salas, who beat the older man into unconsciousness, the attorney general’s statement said.

Friends of Gutiérrez took him to Hospital General de Tijuana, where he died a few hours later from brain injuries. Police arrested Salas four days after the incident. He was immediately taken to the state penitentiary, where he is being held on murder charges.