Francisca Aracely Zavala, her husband environmental defender and teacher, José Antonio Teruel, 72,  and her brother, Marco Tulio Zavala, were shot to death on Sunday, 27 September, 2020, in the municipality of Patuca, department of Olancho, in the north east of Honduras.

At 6.30pm on the Sunday evening armed gunmen burst into the Teruel family home and opened fire killing all three people. Zavazla and her husband were the primary targets. both were teachers, well known for their work in the community.

José Antonio was also a member of the Honduran Alliance for Forest Defense and Development. The forests of Olancho have been decimated by illegal logging and anyone who speaks out against the loggers is immediately a target. He was a strong advocate for environmental protection and had also campaigned for transparency and an end to corruption in public life. He also campaigned against what he saw as destructive mining which produced only contamination and poverty.

In the last years of his life, he held several meetings to analyze the conflict between residents of Patuca and authorities of the National Electric Power Company (Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica - Enee) due to the presence of the dam.