Hoyos, a Radio Super correspondent, was traveling with his older brother in a car outside Popayán, the capital of Cauca Department, when unidentified men in another vehicle stopped them and shot Hoyos twice in the chest, according to a bulletin from the Cauca Department Police. He died while being driven to a nearby hospital.
Hoyos had worked for Radio Super for five months covering the township of Sotará, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Popayán, said John Jairo Uribe, a correspondent for the station. Hoyos had reported on violence, legislative and presidential elections, and community news, according to Uribe. He said Hoyos had received no known threats and described his reports as “impartial and positive.”
An official at the Cauca Prosecutor’s Office said that the crime is under investigation and declined to comment. Hoyos said some of his colleagues at the radio station suspect the gunmen might have been attempting to rob Hoyos. The journalist’s brother could not be reached for comment.