UPDATE: Memorial for Slain Students‏

University officials announced a memorial planned for the two students shot and killed in Ciudad Juárez Nov. 2. The memorial for Manuel Acosta Villalobos and Eder Diaz Sotero will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 8 at the breezeway/patio between the College of Business Administration and the University Library.

Diaz' family has planned for a memorial service at 6 p.m. Sunday at Mausoleos Luz Eterna in Juárez with a Mass for him at 5 p.m. Nov. 8 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, 1111 N. Stanton. No details have been given on arrangements for Acosta.

According to media reports, the Chihuahua State Police said Acosta, 25-year-old senior computer information systems major, and Diaz, 23-year-old sophomore pre-business major, were traveling in a 2005 Nissan Sentra with Texas license plates when their vehicle was shot at about 8 p.m. in colonia Rincones de Santa Rita.

This is the second time this year that violence in Juárez directly impacts UTEP students. On May 25, Alejandro Ruiz Salazar, 19-year-old sophomore nursing major was killed when driving back from Villa Ahumada. Former UTEP student Jorge Pedro Gonzalez, 21, was also killed in the same event.

Visit utepprospector.com for more information as it becomes available.

Aaron Martinez may be reached prospector@utep.edu.