Judge in Ensenada sentences 23-year-old who admitted urging a robbery that preceded the deaths of three visiting surfers.
ENSENADA, Mexico — A Mexican judge has sentenced Ary Gisell Silva Raya, 23, to 20 years in prison for her role in a violent robbery tied to the April 2024 killings of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their friend, American surfer Jack Carter Rhoad, at a remote Baja California break. The ruling followed her guilty plea this week in a state courtroom.
Authorities say the case, which drew international attention across the U.S., Mexico and Australia, is the first sentencing connected to the triple homicide that rattled Baja’s surf corridor south of this port city. Prosecutors described Silva Raya as the instigator who contacted the group at Punta San José and encouraged accomplices to rob them of gear, phones and the tires from their white pickup. After the robbery, the men were shot and their bodies were concealed in a well near the coast. Three male suspects remain jailed on homicide counts and are moving toward trial. Families of the victims addressed the court by video, describing lasting grief and urging a full accounting.
Investigators said the surfers were last heard from around April 27, 2024, while camping near Punta San José, a rugged point break roughly 50 miles south of Ensenada. Search teams fanned out along dirt tracks and arroyos as relatives posted pleas for help from Australia and Southern California. On May 3, searchers found three bodies with gunshot wounds in a deep well off a coastal track. In court, prosecutors said Silva Raya admitted she told her boyfriend and two other men to “go and get the tires and a phone,” then heard a confession later that night. “She acknowledged urging the robbery that set these events in motion,” prosecutor Raúl Gerardo Cobo Montejano said. The judge accepted her plea on counts of vehicle robbery with violence and robbery with violence, combined to 20 years.
Court records state the sentence includes 14 years for vehicle robbery with violence and six years for robbery with violence, plus a fine of 54,285 pesos. Officials identified the victims as brothers Callum, 33, and Jake, 30, who had traveled from Australia to meet Rhoad, 30, from San Diego, for a strike mission along the Baja coast. The Baja California attorney general’s office said Silva Raya initially cooperated but later was charged as evidence mounted that she made contact at the campsite. Authorities said the three male suspects — including Silva Raya’s then-boyfriend — remain in custody and are accused of carrying out the shootings; their names were withheld under Mexican court rules. The office said the men allegedly dumped the bodies in a remote well and attempted to strip the truck of valuable parts before fleeing.
Local surfers and residents described Punta San José as a scenic but isolated zone, with long dirt approaches and few services, where visitors commonly camp above the cliffs to watch south swells. The discovery of the bodies in the well, along with a fourth unrelated body, spurred days of vigils on the beach at Ensenada and in the victims’ hometown communities. Records show the case triggered a surge of cooperation between Baja authorities and consular officials from Australia and the United States, who coordinated family travel, identifications and transport of remains. Prior incidents involving theft from remote campsites have been documented along the peninsula, but mass killings of visiting surfers are rare; the case revived memories of a 2015 double homicide of Australian surfers in northern Mexico.
With Silva Raya’s guilty plea and sentence delivered this week, prosecutors are preparing for separate trials of the three men accused of murder and related weapons crimes. Officials said pretrial motions will continue into early 2026, with hearings slated in Ensenada’s state court complex. Prosecutors indicated they intend to seek lengthy prison terms, citing multiple victims and the use of firearms. The judge said the court will monitor restitution claims from families and review any appeals that might be filed by the defense. Consular officers from both countries plan to attend future proceedings. For now, the court’s written judgment will be forwarded to the state prison system, where Silva Raya will begin serving her 20-year term.
Outside the courthouse, mourners placed white flowers on a small memorial of wax drippings and surf stickers. A local surfer who joined the search said the weeks after the men vanished “felt like the whole coastline was holding its breath.” Callum and Jake Robinson’s parents addressed the hearing by video, saying their sons loved “empty points and camping under the stars,” and Rhoad’s friends in San Diego shared memories of a loyal friend and creative board builder. “No sentence will bring them back, but we needed someone held accountable,” one relative said. Another resident said the case has prompted neighbors to share more details with investigators when they hear gunfire or see suspicious vehicles on the ranch roads.
The written judgment took effect immediately. Silva Raya will be eligible for limited benefits under Mexican law after serving a required portion of her term, but the court did not discuss early-release scenarios. The next milestone in the case is a scheduling conference for the three male defendants, expected in the coming months at the Ensenada courthouse. Officials said they will provide a public update when the trial calendar is set.
Author note: Last updated Sunday, November 23, 2025.