Killing of a Mexican TikToker Valeria Márquez raises questions

[ad_1] When a 23-year-old Mexican influencer was shot lifeless whereas reside streaming on TikTok, rumours started to swirl. Was it a cartel hit? Or one other tragic instance of violence towards girls?

On Tuesday, Valeria Marquez was shot lifeless at Blossom The Magnificence Lounge, a magnificence salon owned by the sufferer in Zapopan, a city within the central-eastern state of Jalisco.

The state prosecutor's workplace stated it's investigating the crime as a femicide, that means that it believes the crime was motivated by the actual fact the sufferer was a girl.

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, stated an investigation is below means: "We're working to catch these accountable and discover out why this occurred."

However the truth that the crime passed off in Jalisco, the state the place the dreaded Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) emerged, led to hypothesis by some that the cartel could by some means be concerned.

Ms Marquez was a Mexican mannequin who started to make a reputation for herself in 2021 after successful the Miss Rostro (Miss Face) magnificence pageant, in response to Mexican media stories.

Shortly thereafter, she started creating content material on social media. She would share make-up ideas and private care routines, discuss vogue and exhibit her travels.

Images of her on personal jets and yachts could be seen on her Instagram account, which had greater than 223,000 followers on the time of her dying.

Ms Marquez additionally had one other 100,000 followers on TikTok.

Though it's unclear precisely what occurred, throughout her remaining livestream, Ms Marquez stated she was ready for a courier she knew to ship a present.

She added that she was a bit anxious, as a result of her buddy couldn't see the courier's face when he arrived.

"Why did not he simply drop it off (the reward)? Had been they going to choose me up (kidnap me) or what?" she questioned aloud to her followers.

Whereas holding a pink stuffed animal, Ms Marquez appeared away from the digital camera and instantly grabbed her chest and stomach earlier than collapsing into her chair.

One other girl then took the telephone and ended the livestream.

Police arrived on the scene round 18:30 native time (12:30 GMT) and confirmed Ms Marquez's dying, in response to the state prosecutor.

Authorities say that not less than two males on bikes arrived on the salon and one in all them requested the sufferer if she was Valeria. When she replied "sure," he pulled out a gun and shot her not less than twice earlier than fleeing.

Investigators say they're checking CCTV footage and monitoring Ms Marquez's social media accounts for clues as to who the attackers could be.

However the salon's location within the rich Zapopan space of Guadalajara has raised questions concerning the motive for the crime. Whereas the presence of personal safety and the tidyness of its streets give the impression that Zapopan is a secure space, in actuality it is without doubt one of the most violent municipalities in Jalisco. In truth, shootings recurrently happen within the space's luxurious purchasing centres.

Greater than half of the actual property and business improvement within the space is related to the laundering of drug trafficking cash, in response to the US Division of Justice.

Jalisco ranks sixth amongst Mexico's 32 states, together with Mexico Metropolis, by way of homicides, with 906 murders registered because the starting of President Claudia Sheinbaum's time period in October 2024, in response to knowledge consulting agency TResearch.

It's also one of many Mexican states most affected by the cartels. It was right here, 50 kilometres from Zapopan, {that a} cartel coaching centre was present in March, and it's right here that 15,000 individuals have disappeared since 2018.

The identical day that Márquez was killed, a former congressman named Luis Armando Córdoba Díaz was murdered simply two kilometres away, in response to the newspaper Reforma .

In line with the state of Jalisco, as many as 90% of crimes are by no means reported or investigated. The state legal professional's workplace has additionally lengthy been accused of getting hyperlinks to cartels, which it denies.

The prosecutor's workplace stated that to this point they haven't any purpose to suspect that Ms Marquez's homicide was ordered or carried out by any of the organised prison teams working within the space.

As a substitute, the workplace urged the assassin could have been motivated to kill her due to her gender.

Mexican media retailers had beforehand printed messages wherein Ms Marquez blamed her ex-partner if something occurred to her.

Mayor of Zapopan Juan José Frangie stated his workplace had no file of Ms Marquez requesting assist from the authorities as a consequence of threats towards her, including "a femicide is the worst factor", in response to information company AFP.

"In response to claims pointing to alleged perpetrators of the femicide in Zapopan, we make clear that there aren't any direct accusations towards any particular person within the investigation file," the Jalisco prosecutor's workplace stated in a press release.

"All statements and clues, together with movies and social media posts, are being analysed. The investigation is being carried out below the femicide protocol, with a gender perspective, with out revictimisation and in accordance with the rules of legality, impartiality and respect for human rights," it added.

Gender-based violence is a major problem in Mexico, a rustic that ranks fourth in Latin America and the Caribbean for charges of femicide, behind Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia.

In line with the newest knowledge from the United Nations Financial Fee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), there have been 1.3 deaths per each 100,000 girls in Mexico in 2023, Reuters reported.

Lower than 48 hours earlier than Ms Marquez's homicide, Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez, a mayoral candidate for Morena (the ruling celebration) within the metropolis of Texistepec, Veracruz, was killed whereas collaborating in a political motorcade. Just like the influencer's case, the politician's homicide was recorded by cameras as a result of the occasion was being live-streamed on Fb.