Malcolm X’s Grandson Was Murdered Over $1,200 Bar Tab

Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of Malcolm X, was murdered over a $1,200 bar tab, according to a city prosecutor in Mexico City, Mexico.

The 28-year-old was beaten by alleged attackers David Hernández Cruz and Manuel Alejandro Pérez de Jesús. The waiters who worked at the Palace Club reportedly approached Shabazz and proceeded to initiate an attack.

Malcolm Shabazz was killed after suffering fatal skull and jaw and rib fractures from the vicious attack.

Two more employees who are believed to have participated in the attack are still being sought out by police officers.

Malcolm had traveled from Tijuana to Mexico City and on Thursday night he headed out on the town with Miguel Suárez, a Mexican labor activist whom Mr. Shabazz had befriended in the United States.

An argument over the large $1,200 tab allegedly broke out around 3 am. The two men were eventually separated by bar employees, and Mr. Shabazz was then beaten with a blunt object. After being taken to another part of the bar, Miguel Suárez was robbed but managed to escape and call police.

The bar has been identified by Mexican newspapers as a brothel, although claims of prostitution have been denied. News reports in Mexico claim that bars in the seedy area charge customers if they even talk to female employees.

The prosecutor’s office claims that Malcolm Shabazz’s blood alcohol concentration was three times the legal limit for driving in the United States. However, prosecutors have not attempted to determine how much alcohol was consumed by the men.

Prosecutors do not believe Shabazz knew his attackers or that the robbery and murder were the product of racial motivation.

While security cameras existed in the bar that equipment mysteriously went missing two days after the attack. Investigators also found that cameras were turned towards the walls. Because Mexico’s investigators are often much slower than US forensics officers, the criminals likely had time to steal recordings and further tamper with the crime scene.

Questions still remain about Mr. Shabazz who led a troubled life. At the age of 12, Malcom set a fire in Yonkers that claimed the life of his grandma, Betty Shabazz. After spending time in jail, Malcolm would go on to live a troubled life in the shadow of his adored grandfather.