On May 26, 2022, journalist Ricardo Alcides Ávila was riding his motorcycle to work through Santa Cruz village when he was shot in the head by an unidentified person. He died of his injuries in a hospital in Tegucigalpa on May 29. Ávila was a journalist and cameraman for the local station Metro TV in Choluteca, a city south of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and reported on social movements in Choluteca, according to reports.
The police called the incident a robbery attempt, but in a press release, C-Libre, an organization promoting freedom of expression, maintains the motive was not robbery and Ávila was intentionally targeted because of his profession. Days before the attack, Ávila changed his cellphone number because he believed his phone was hacked. His money and valuables had not been stolen when he was found and taken to the hospital.