lit a candle 9 Sept 2026My daughter loved Miénteme. She watched the video over and over. I'm heartbroken for his family, his children. May they find peace.
Their story
Jonathan Samuel Meléndez Ochoa was born in Mexico City on 7 April 1988. Friends and fans knew him as Honas, the nickname that followed him onto stages and into the credits of Camilo Séptimo, the Mexican alt-pop and synth-leaning indie band he co-founded in 2013 with Manuel "Coe" Mendoza and…
Jonathan Samuel Meléndez Ochoa was born in Mexico City on 7 April 1988. Friends and fans knew him as Honas, the nickname that followed him onto stages and into the credits of Camilo Séptimo, the Mexican alt-pop and synth-leaning indie band he co-founded in 2013 with Manuel "Coe" Mendoza and Erik Vázquez. He died on 1 September 2026 in Atizapán de Zaragoza, Estado de México, at age 38, in a multi-homicide that also killed his pregnant wife Ana Paula Barragán, their three-year-old daughter Sofía, and household worker Aleyda Romero, about 21. A six-year-old son survived and was found without apparent injuries. The son's given name has not been made public, and it is not stated on this page. Mexican authorities detained suspects within about a day. The Fiscalía del Estado de México has described a gunshot attack inside the family's Grand Viure apartment in Bosque Esmeralda, also called Zona Esmeralda. The case remains before the courts. Suspects are reported as accused, not convicted.
This page is for that keyboardist, composer, and producer. It is not a page for other people named Jonathan Meléndez. It is not a page for bandmates Manuel "Coe" Mendoza or Erik Vázquez (also spelled Erick in some reports). Those musicians are named only as co-founders of Camilo Séptimo. They are not merged into this profile.
As a boy and teenager in Mexico City, Meléndez studied piano and other instruments and absorbed a wide range of styles. In a 2024 interview later quoted by El Financiero, he recalled teenage telemarketing work selling irons by phone, then studying advertising design before committing fully to music. Exact school names for formal music training are not made public in major profiles. Before Camilo Séptimo coalesced, he played in local projects and crossed paths with Mendoza and Vázquez. The trio did not set out, Meléndez later said, to build a permanent band. They wanted a creative break after earlier groups. Early singles such as "Portales" and especially "No confies en mi," and the 2014 EP Maya, changed that plan. Crowds and streams grew. By 2015 the band was opening doors at Vive Latino and earning Premios IMAs nominations for new artist and song of the year.
Honas was not only the person at the keys. Bandmates and press repeatedly describe him as central to Camilo Séptimo's atmospheric identity: reverberant guitars wrapped in synthesizers, dreamy indie-rock and new-wave colors, and careful studio craft. Spotify credits reported by CNN list him as composer, lyricist, producer, and recording, mixing, and mastering engineer across Camilo Séptimo releases. Studio albums followed: Óleos (2017), Navegantes (2019), Ecos (2022), and Jardín de las almas (2023), then the double Mapas / Mapas II project into 2025 and 2026. Songs associated with the band's rise include "Miénteme," "Vicio," "Inevitable," "Contacto," "Galactica," and "Me dejas caer." He directed the independent, 1980s-tinged video for "Miénteme." Outside the band he produced and engineered for artists including Valdo Rodriguez and Rubytates, who both paid public tributes after his death.
Onstage he helped take Camilo Séptimo from UNAM campus rooms and small venues to the Teatro Metropolitan, Auditorio Nacional, Palacio de los Deportes, Plaza de Toros, and festivals including Vive Latino, Pa'l Norte, and Coordenada. On 28 May 2026 the band played Palacio de los Deportes after Mapas II. In a creative-process video for Mapas, quoted by CNN and the BBC, Honas said he felt most at peace connecting with nature and that real inspiration lived outside, in experience. When you nourish brain, soul, and spirit, he said, music flows better. That clip became a gathering place for fans writing goodbye messages. CNN also noted personal Instagram posts with his partner, travel, and dogs Mila and Nala. The family dog Nala was also killed in the attack. Net worth is not published in the sources used here, and none is stated.
Camilo Séptimo's 2 September 2026 statement called him a beloved brother. They said they would remember him with immense love and gratitude and honor his life, music, and light. They named Ana Paula and Sofía and offered condolences to Aleyda Romero's family, while recognizing the Fiscalía's work. Fans known as Navegantes held candlelight gatherings in Mexico City, including at the Monumento a la Revolución and the Ángel de la Independencia. A wake for Meléndez, Ana Paula, and Sofía was reported at Funeraria Gayosso Santa Mónica in Tlalnepantla after the Fiscalía released the bodies. Aleyda Romero was mourned separately. Burial or final resting place beyond the wake has not been made public in the sources used here.
Meléndez's legacy is the sound that made Camilo Séptimo unmistakable in Mexican indie and Latin alternative music: patient synth lines, shared songwriting, and a belief that love in the wide sense could heal. With the band he was nominated at the 2015 IMAs and at the 2022 MTV MIAW awards, the latter for the video of "Inevitable." Individual awards solely in his name are not highlighted in major sources. The violent circumstances of his death shocked Mexico. This profile centers his life as musician, partner, and father, and the music he left.
Biography adapted from es.Wikipedia; Wikidata Q130853288; CNN; AP; BBC; Proceso; El País; Infobae; El Financiero..
In their own words
“Con profundo dolor despedimos a nuestro querido hermano Jonathan Samuel Meléndez Ochoa, Honas. Lo recordaremos siempre con inmenso amor y gratitud. Hoy honramos y celebramos su vida, su música, su luz y lo compartido con quienes tuvimos la fortuna de conocerlo y hacer camino con él.”
Camilo Séptimo official farewell, 2 September 2026, on band social channels. Reported by AP, Proceso, and Infobae.
“Honas, celebramos tu música, tu vida y tu luz.”
Camilo Séptimo esquela line, memorial image naming Jonathan, Ana Paula, and Sofía. Proceso, 3 September 2026. A companion line was Vivirán por siempre en nuestros corazones.
“Cuando mejor me siento, cuando me siento en paz conmigo mismo es cuando conecto con la naturaleza. La verdadera inspiración se encuentra afuera, teniendo experiencias...”
Honas, MAPAS creative-process video, quoted by CNN en Español and the BBC. Ellipsis as in the published quotation. Context: inspiration and nature.
“amor universal”
Honas, Ka Volta interview, 2017, via BBC coverage. He described Camilo Séptimo songs as inspired by universal love, seeking positive healing energy for listeners, not only romantic love. The surrounding sentence is paraphrase in the sources. Only the quoted phrase is stored as his words.
“ya te toca a ti”
Valdo Rodriguez, Instagram tribute quoted by CNN, thanking Honas for believing in him as an artist, and hoping to meet again en otro lugar. Fragments only. Full caption not reconstructed here.
Photos
1Honas (Jonathan Meléndez) on keys in 2024. Wikimedia File:Honas.jpg, categorized under Jonathan Meléndez. Not Manuel Mendoza or Erik Vázquez.
Jan 2024 · by People Forever
Sending you both so much love. His music touched so many hearts like your daughter's.