Mexican authorities are working to determine the motive behind the murder of a 23-year-old influencer during a live TikTok broadcast on Tuesday near Guadalajara- a known stronghold of organised crime, where even social media celebrities are not spared.
Valeria Márquez was shot dead on Tuesday afternoon by an armed assailant inside her beauty salon in the western part of the country. The shocking incident unfolded live on TikTok, where Márquez had over 100,000 followers and was hosting one of her beauty advice programmes.
Prosecutors continued their investigation near her salon yesterday, which remains sealed by authorities. According to a correspondent from AFP, the crime has spurred intense speculation across the country.
The prosecutor’s office, which announced it is investigating the case as a femicide, clarified yesterday that there is currently no evidence linking the crime to her ex-partner, who is allegedly associated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)- a theory circulated by Mexican media.
The video of the murder has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
The broadcast shows a man off-camera cheerfully asking, “Are you Valeria?” to which she responds, “Yes,” her expression growing increasingly nervous. She then mutes the audio. Seconds later, she collapses, struck by bullets- three, according to initial reports. A man’s hand then reaches into the frame to end the livestream.
Before the attack, the influencer, dressed in a fuchsia shirt, had received a pink plush pig as a gift.
While speaking to a colleague off-camera, Márquez seemed surprised that a delivery person wanted to hand her the gift personally during her video shoot.
“They want to kidnap me or what?” she asked, half-jokingly, half-worriedly, before adding, “Maybe they’re coming to kill me.”
Some Mexican media outlets speculated that the mastermind behind the murder was a man they presented as her ex-partner, allegedly a senior member of the CJNG.
On social media, some accused Márquez’s colleague, who can be heard in the video urging her not to leave the salon, of complicity.
Commenting on the “journalistic versions referring to alleged persons responsible for the death of the woman in Zapopan,” the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office clarified in a statement that there is no evidence yet implicating any specific individual.
In Mexico, few homicide or femicide investigations lead to convictions.
Neighbours told an AFP correspondent yesterday that they have no evidence to support the media’s claims. “She always came alone,” said a waiter who asked not to be named. “We hadn’t heard anything,” added an employee of a nearby shop.
Valeria Márquez had never reported receiving threats, according to the mayor of Zapopan, Juan José Frangie.
Márquez, who frequently posted videos and photos on TikTok and Instagram (with 115,000 followers), was often seen posing in cars, yachts, and even private planes. In August, she opened the Blossom beauty salon in a shopping centre in Zapopan, a wealthy community that still suffers from violent crime, just a short distance from Guadalajara.
Several other influencers have also been murdered in Mexico, with cases often linked to organised crime.
One of them, known as “El Pirata de Culiacán,” had “threatened” the leader of the CJNG, according to Mauricio Cabrera, an expert in new media.
According to security expert David Saucedo, some influencers have become “cogs in the structures of organised crime.”
The CJNG, primarily involved in drug trafficking, is among eight Latin American gangs- six of which are Mexican- that were placed on the terrorist organisation blacklist this year by US President Donald Trump.
In 2024, nearly 3,430 women were killed in Mexico, according to a report from the Mexican parliament. The country records an average of 30,000 homicides annually.
Of these murders, 829 were classified as alleged femicides and 2,598 as simple homicides, according to the same report. However, feminist activists challenge this categorisation, arguing that ten women and girls are killed every day in the country.
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