TIJUANA, Mexico -- Two U.S. sailors have been charged with the murder of a prostitute and the attempted murder of another in this northern border city, Mexican state prosecutors said.

Witnesses and a hotel camera place the two men at the same hotel where a 19-year-old prostitute was smothered to death on Jan. 17, the prosecutors said Tuesday.

On Feb. 4, police found the men in a bloodstained hotel room with a prostitute and a hotel employee, both of whom had suffered stab wounds, prosecutors said.

The sailors were taken into custody and charged with attempted murder. They later found evidence linking them to the January killing, Authorities said.

A U.S. Navy statement on Wednesday said that Jarrett Monzingo and Joshua Dockery, active-duty petty officers assigned to the San Diego area, face murder and attempted-murder charges in the death of a Mexican citizen and are being held at La Mesa Prison in Tijuana.

The statement did not elaborate on the alleged crime but said that the Navy has hired Mexican lawyers to represent the officers.