TikTok beauty influencer shot dead during live stream in Mexico

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1Valeria Marquez was addressing her TikTok followers in a livestream from her beauty salon in Zapopan, Mexico, when someone arrived at her door to deliver a small parcel.

2“He’s a little piglet!” 3the 23-year-old beauty influencer exclaimed as she returned to her viewers and unwrapped the stuffed animal, smiling as she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

4Moments later she was dead, slumped over in her chair with blood pooling on the desk in front of her, even as the livestream continued. 5The footage ended only when another person picked up her phone, their face momentarily showing to viewers.

6According to the state of Jalisco’s Attorney General’s office, Marquez was shot dead by a male intruder into her salon in a case it is investigating as a suspected femicide – the killing of a woman or girl for gender-based reasons.

7The death of Marquez – a public figure with more than 100,000 Instagram followers – has sent shockwaves through a country that has long struggled with high levels of both homicide and violence against women.

Yesenia Lara Gutiérrez is seen in a photo taken from her Facebook page. Gutiérrez was killed along with three other people when gunfire broke out during a campaign march.

8Related article Mexican mayoral candidate gunned down during live broadcast of campaign rally

11Just days earlier, another woman – a mayoral candidate in the state of Veracruz – was also shot dead during a livestream, alongside three other people.

12While not all homicides involving women are femicides, many are. 13In 2020, a quarter of female killings in Mexico were investigated as femicides, with cases reported in each one of Mexico’s 32 states, according to Amnesty International.

14Last year, there were 847 reported cases of femicide nationwide – and 162 in the first three months of this year, according to Mexican government figures.

15Mexico’s response to homicides in general is severely wanting, according to rights groups, who say too few investigations lead to prosecution.

16“In 2022, around 4,000 women were killed in Mexico, which amounts to 12% of all homicides that year,” Human Rights Watch Americas Director Juanita Goebertus told CNN. 17“And the rate of cases that lead to a verdict is around 67%.”

18The main challenge, Goebertus said, is increasing authorities’ capacity to investigate and protect witnesses and victims.

19CNN has reached out to the Attorney General’s office for more information.

20CNN’s Ivonne Valdés, Veronica Calderon and Angelica Franganillo Diaz contributed to this report.

from CNN