PHOENIX—Patricia Quets of Arizona said she once believed that if she worked hard and raised her children right, her family would remain untouched by cartel violence in Mexico.
“I was wrong,” Quets said.
On Oct. 18, 2024, her son, U.S. Marine Nicholas Quets, 31, was driving his F-250 with Arizona plates to Rocky Point, Mexico, when he encountered a Sinaloa cartel checkpoint.
What followed, she told lawmakers in Phoenix on May 28, was a seven-mile chase that ended when gunmen opened fire, striking him in the back and heart and leaving him to die on the highway.
“Nicholas was murdered in cold blood by ruthless cartel thugs. This was a deliberate attack on an innocent American,” Quets said, describing herself as “a mom on a mission” to raise awareness and push for change….