MEXICO CITY 

A journalist was shot dead in southern Mexico on Monday, the 15th victim in what is already the deadliest year on record for Mexican media workers.

Columnist Fredid Roman, who was also the founder and director of the La Realidad newspaper, was found with fatal gunshot wounds in his car in Chilpancingo, capital of the coastal Pacific state of Guerrero.

Just a few hours before his death, Roman has published a post on Facebook titled "State Crime without Blaming the Boss."

"It was a crime committed by the state, that was the conclusion presented last Thursday to relatives of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa normalista students," he wrote on the Facebook posting.

Last Thursday, an official inquiry reported that the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Mexico a "crime of the state," and the government is responsible for it.

Prosecutors said his death may be linked to the recent murder of his son Baldemar, who was killed in Chilpancingo on July 1 along with another person.

Roman’s killing comes a week after journalist Juan Arjon Lopez was found dead in northern Mexico with his body bearing clears signs of violence.

In early August, Ernesto Mendez, a journalist from central Mexico, was murdered in Guanajuato.

According to rights group Article19, violence against media workers has surged since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December 2018.

The organization said the Mexican state has been involved in more than 38% of all attacks on journalists during this period.

The previous deadliest year for Mexican journalists was 2017, when 12 media workers were killed throughout the country. ​​​​​​​