23-Year-Old Sentenced to 20 Years Over Baja California Killings of Two Australian Surfers and U.S. Visitor

A Mexican court in Ensenada on Thursday sentenced 23-year-old Ary Gisell Silva to 20 years in prison for her role in the April 2024 killings of two Australian brothers and an American man at a popular surfing area in Baja California.

Case overview

The victims were brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, 30 and 33, and 30-year-old U.S. citizen Jack Carter Rhoad. The three had been camping at a remote beachside spot when they were attacked in what investigators say began as an attempt to steal their pickup truck and belongings.

Guilty plea and evidence

Silva admitted at trial that she instigated and participated in a robbery of the tourists' possessions that escalated into the fatal shootings. Prosecutors say she approached the campers, noted their valuables and urged her boyfriend and two other men to carry out the theft. Court records cite her alleged remark about the vehicle: "They have good phones and good tires."

According to the prosecution, the attackers "intentionally surprised the surfers and shot them with firearms, taking their lives on Sunday, April 28."

The three other suspects have been detained and are charged with murder but are being tried in separate proceedings.

Timeline and reaction

The surfers were reported missing on April 27, 2024. Their bodies were discovered on May 3, 2024, concealed on a cliff near the camping site. The killings prompted widespread shock and sorrow in the victims' home countries and an intensive search by the media and on social platforms.

Context

Authorities noted that foreign tourists in Mexico's Pacific coastal regions have previously been targeted. In November 2015, two other Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were murdered while traveling through Sinaloa.

This conviction covers Silva’s role in the violent robbery that prosecutors say led to the deaths; sentencing for the other accused is pending separate trials.