El Chamelecón, San Pedro Sula, Honduras—Kevin, 16 years old, paints his first aerosol mural as a memorial. The mural stands at the site of one of the most gruesome massacres in recent Latin American history.

The killing of 28 innocent men women and children on December 23, 2004 on the bus route 35, as they rode home from Christmas shopping, was attributed to “maras” or gang members.

Though the only evidence of the massacre points to military training (both with ballistics and execution), the events at El Chamelecón are attributed to “maras” and are seen as a symbol of what gang members are capable of, reinforcing “hard hand” or zero tolerance policies against young people in Central America.

The mural is the only formal memorial to the fallen.

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