A 23-year-old Mexican influencer, Valeria Marquez, was fatally shot on Tuesday while livestreaming on TikTok from her beauty salon in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Marquez, who had more than 113,000 followers on the platform, was broadcasting to her audience when the attack occurred.
According to a statement from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office, the case is being investigated under femicide protocols, applied in instances where a woman is killed due to her gender.
As of Wednesday, Marquez’s TikTok account appeared to have been removed.
Here is what we know:
What happened to Valeria Marquez?
Marquez was working inside Blossom The Beauty Lounge when the attack happened.
She was livestreaming on TikTok at the time. In the video, she is seen sitting at a table, holding a stuffed pink pig toy, and is heard saying, “He is coming.”
A man’s voice in the background then asks, “Hi, are you Valeria?” to which she replies, “Yes.”
At that moment, she turns off the microphone, and seconds later, she is shot dead. The man whose voice was previously heard is not visible in the video.
According to reports, the man who shot her then hopped onto a motorbike and fled.
Meanwhile, on the video – still being streamed live – Valeria is seen grabbing her chest and stomach before she collapses in her chair. She appears to have been shot twice, with at least one bullet hitting her torso. The face of another woman briefly appears before the video ends.
Earlier suspicion
Earlier in the same video, Valeria revealed information that has set off speculation over a possible link to the events leading to her death.
“Hey, what do you think happened to me?” she says.
“I was doing some things today, and Erika called me and said, ‘Hey, babe, they’re bringing you something, and I don’t know what, but they want to give it to you.’” It’s unclear who Erika is.
I said, ‘Oh, I’ll be there in about an hour,’ and the delivery guy said, ‘I’d better wait for her because it’s really expensive.’
“Who’s going to give me something?” she asked on the video.
In the livestream, she said at another point, “Dude, they might’ve been about to kill me.” It’s unclear who she’s referring to or what prompted her to say this.
According to authorities, she was still in the chair, holding onto the stuffed pig, when they arrived.
The crime is now being investigated as the eighth femicide so far this month in Jalisco.
Who was Marquez?
According to local media, Valeria rose to fame on social media thanks to her content about beauty, lifestyle and entrepreneurship. She had more than 113,000 followers on TikTok and at least 70,000 followers on Instagram.
She owned the beauty salon located in Zapopan, where she shared aesthetic tips and personal moments with her audience. She opened it in 2024.
According to the publication El Financiero, in 2021, Marquez was crowned Miss Rostro, a local beauty contest, which solidified her presence in the world of modelling and beauty. In addition to her professional career, she maintained a close relationship with her followers, openly sharing details about her personal life.
What do we know about femicides in Mexico?
According to the latest data from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico shares the fourth-highest femicide rate in the region, tied with Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia, at 1.3 deaths per 100,000 women in 2023.
The top three are Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Brazil.
Jalisco is ranked sixth out of Mexico’s 32 states, including Mexico City, for homicides, with 906 recorded there since the beginning of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s term in October 2024, according to the data consultancy TResearch.
The United Nations says that about 10 women or girls are murdered every day in Mexico
According to AFP, Zapopan Mayor Juan Jose Frangie stated that his office had no record of Marquez seeking assistance from authorities regarding any threats. He added that “femicide is the worst thing”.
This killing took place just days before another woman, a mayoral candidate in the state of Veracruz, was also shot dead during a livestream alongside three other people.
President Sheinbaum, in a statement, said she had no information yet about the motive.
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