Avon - A popular singer from Avon who was murdered in Mexico is being remembered by Spanish-language stations.
Sergio Gomez was the lead singer for a popular group K-Paz de la Sierra. Radio station WEDJ-FM in Indianapolis is playing his songs Thursday.
The 35-year-old singer was killed last weekend after performing with his top-selling group, K-Paz de la Sierra, in Morelia, Mexico. He had been the target of death threats.
Authorities say he may have been a target of a Mexican drug gang. But those who know his music say Gomez sang about love.
"People loved his music. He did a couple of different songs with well-recognized other artists like duets like Jose Manuel Zamacona, Ana Torroja, Ana Gabriel, Franco Devita," said Manuel Sepulveda.
Those who knew Gomez from his many visits to WEDJ cannot understand how he got caught up in the wave of entertainment-related murders in Mexico.
Gomez had been living the past few years in suburban Avon with his wife, children and other relatives, said Sepulveda, who met the singer many times.
"Family man, loved by the people," Sepulveda said Thursday. "Good friend to those who were his friends."
His Duranguense music was popular in cities from Mexico to Chicago, where the music got its start and K-Paz made its first recordings. Duranguense music is inspired by one of Mexico's least populated states, Durango. Five of the band's albums have reached the Top 10 on Billboard magazine's Latin music chart.
Hundreds of people mourned Gomez Tuesday in his native Ciudad Hidalgo. About 200 more also gathered in Mexico City, where Gomez's body was transported Tuesday night. People sang the group's best-known songs and some cried holding flowers and photographs.
Gomez moved from Mexico years ago to Chicago before settling in Avon, Sepulveda said. He said Gomez's parents and brother were among family members also living in Avon.
"I will miss his smile that he gave during concerts. He wasn't a bad person. He would talk to anyone who asked for an autograph," said Baldomero Gomez, the singer's father.
"He didn't deserve to die like that. There's a divine justice and God will take care of that," said Laura Gomez, the singer's sister.
A steady stream of listeners has been calling the station to talk about Gomez's death, and WEDJ aired a tribute to him, playing his music every hour along with interviews.
"Our morning show guy ... that's all he's been talking about for the past few days," Sepulveda said.
K-Paz's music had not crossed over to the pop charts, but in its Latino genre, the group was as popular as Garth Brooks or Shania Twain in country music, Sepulvedo said.
The murders of Gomez and Zayda Pena of the group Zayda and the Guilty Ones has mainstream singers worrying they might become targets by becoming identified with one or another of Mexico's warring drug gangs.
Although not known for songs glamorizing the drug business, Gomez had reportedly received death threats urging him not to appear in the capital of the western state of Michoacan, a hot bed of the drug trade where he was tortured before being strangled Sunday.
Some fear that singers, whether they have any links to drug cartels or not, are routinely "adopted" by drug gangs, which post Internet videos showing their members torturing and executing rivals to soundtracks of popular tunes.
The violence has left those at WEDJ shaking their heads.
"We're all sick about it," said station general manager Russ Dodge.
The public viewing for Sergio Gomez takes place Sunday afternoon at Stevens Mortuary at 5520 West 10th Street.
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