Prosecutors in Mexico City today confirmed the murder of Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, who died in a hospital yesterday after he was treated for injuries apparently caused by a brutal beating.

The Attorney General of Mexico said in a statement it has started an investigation into the murder of a U.S. citizen.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico had previously reported the death of a U.S. citizen in the Mexican capital, but no details were provided at the request of the family.

The statement of the prosecution of the capital indicates that Shabazz, 29, died early Thursday "after receiving medical care" in an emergency room of a hospital in the Mexican capital.

He was picked up by an ambulance near Plaza Garibaldi, a much visited place by tourists where they go to enjoy mariachi sets.

"He had suffered various injuries caused by what seemed to a brutal beating," said the statement.

The prosecutor's office indicated that the city attorney, Rodolfo Fernando Rios, has given instructions for an investigation to be conducted in order to get to the bottom of this crime.

The statement from Mexican authorities is the first confirmation about the death of the grandson of the one of the leaders of the black civil rights movement in the United States.

On August 8, 1997, Malcolm Shabazz, then 12 years old, was sentenced to 18 months of confinement in a Massachusetts juvenile detention center, for setting a fire that killed his grandmother, Betty Shabazz.

Malcolm Shabazz later on admitted deliberately causing the fire because he didn't want to live with his grandmother anymore, who died on June 23, 1997 at the age of 63.

Editorial@sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com