Tragic moment father finds his dying son, 12, three days after he was thrown from a 450ft bridge for refusing to murder a 'random' bus driver

He was then given the choice of being murdered by machetes or thrown off a bridge. 

Angel Ariel Escalante Perez, 12, had been walking home school when he was ambushed gangland thugs who ordered him to shoot a random bus driver or be killed himself. Because his father, Luis Escalante, worked as a bus driver, the brave schoolboy refused and said he would rather they killed him.

Angel chose the latter and he was hurled over the Incensio Bridge in the Guatemalan capital of Guatemala City.

Despite plunging nearly 450ft, he survived after landing in the thick foliage below. 

But it also meant he remained hidden while lying critically injured for three days until his father and search teams eventually found him.

He was taken to hospital, where medics fought for 15 days to save him, but he died from his injuries. 

Rest in Piece bro...

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His case is just one of many that have come to light of children being exploited to commit killings because they cannot be prosecuted. 

Children recruited by organised crime gangs are common in Latin American. 

Given the lack of education, often poor background and the capacity to smuggle drugs or guns unnoticed, many children have been coerced into joining criminal gangs. 

Speaking earlier this year after Angel's case, human rights activist Edgar Guerra said: 'This type of phenomenon can be seen much more frequently – the use of underage children for murders.'