17-year-old arrested in 3 murders in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY – Authorities in Mexico City said Monday they arrested a 17-year-old boy on murder charges in the deaths of three people, some of whom he allegedly killed because of the way they looked at his girlfriend.

The bodies were found mutilated in an empty lot in the southern part of the capital on Thursday.

City prosecutors said authorities are still searching for an accomplice.

The suspect’s 16-year-old girlfriend told investigators that her boyfriend got angry because one of the victims had leered at her, another had pulled open a curtain while she was changing and another entered her room.

The victims were found with their hands and ears cut off.

And in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo, a pair of running gun battles between soldiers and drug cartel gunmen left five dead and six wounded.

The government of the border state of Tamaulipas said the Sunday night gun battles came amid a turf battle between two gangs for control of the city, a valuable trafficking route across the border from Laredo, Texas.

The government said army patrol came under fire on two separate occasions. One soldier was killed and six others wounded in the first attack.

Later, another army patrol was attacked and returned fire, killing four suspects.

Two factions of the now-splintered Zetas cartel are battling each other in the city.