A beauty influencer who was tragically shot during a TikTok livestream had admitted moments before her death that she was concerned for her safety, telling her followers, ‘I’m worried.’
Valeria Marquez, 23, was shot on Tuesday in her beauty salon in Jalisco, Mexico, while her phone recorded a livestream.
The identity of the shooter remains unknown, but Denis Rodríguez, a spokesperson for the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office, reported that a masked individual posing as a delivery person appeared at the salon hours before the fatal incident.
Accompanied by another person, the man informed a woman at the salon that they needed to meet Marquez to present her with an ‘expensive gift,’ as reported by CBS News.
When the beauty influencer arrived at the salon and was informed two men were looking for her, she told her followers, ‘Maybe they were going to kill me.’
‘Were they going to come and take me away, or what? I’m worried,’ Marquez then said on the stream.
Shortly after this admission, the two men returned to the salon and asked for the influencer.
‘They’re coming,’ she told her followers before a voice off-screen can be heard asking, ‘Hey Vale?’
Valeria Marquez, 23, was shot and killed in her beauty salon on Tuesday while filming a livestream on TikTok
Doble R was linked to previous murders in the area and is a known cartel leader
New details have now revealed Marquez feared for her life before her murder, and the two suspects arrived at her salon (pictured) asking for her before they killed her
She replied and was given a stuffed animal and a Starbucks coffee before the masked man opened fire and shot her in the head and chest.
Marquez collapsed live on camera. Rodríguez revealed that prosecutors believe the men were hired assassins.
‘The aggressor arrived asking if the victim (Márquez) was there. So it appears he didn’t know her,’ Rodríguez said.
‘With that, you can deduce — without jumping to conclusions — that this was a person who was paid. It was obviously someone who came with a purpose.’
In a separate video, Marquez admitted that she used to date ‘thugs,’ telling her followers, ‘I’ve changed. I don’t go out anymore, I don’t drink anymore, I’ve stopped being around thugs, I’m a good girl.’
Paramedics pronounced Marquez dead at the scene, and investigators are working to find the suspect, who remains on the streets.
Although a suspect hasn’t been named by authorities, Mexican newspaper El Heraldo reported that a feared cartel leader named Doble R is at the center of the investigation.
Marquez had reportedly been in a relationship with the man and was envious when her followers started sending her expensive gifts.
Denis Rodríguez, a spokesperson for the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office, said that authorities suspect Marquez’s murderer was a hired assassin
Marquez reportedly told her followers before her death, ‘Were they going to come and take me away, or what? I’m worried,’ when she heard two men were looking for her
Doble R is associated with the violent faction of the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, which has seized control of the region.
He has an extensive criminal history and was previously connected to the murders of Venezuelan model Daisy Ferrer Arenas and influencer Juan Luis Lagunas, who reportedly insulted cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera.
Marquez’s murder has shocked the world and shed light on the femicide crisis in Mexico, where women are frequently killed and assaulted.
Violence against women has soared in Latin American countries as cartel members perpetrate shocking levels of gender-based violence.
Mexican mayoral candidate Yesenia Lara Gutierrez was gunned down just days before Marquez while greeting residents on the street.
The shocking slaying was also captured on camera, as the footage revealed people running for their lives as gunshots rang out.
A man named Doble R is suspected in Marquez’s death, with local news reporting that the two dated
Before she was killed, Marquez reportedly told her followers that she was ‘stopped being around thugs’
A Mexican newspaper noted that Gutierrez was greeting ‘women with children in their arms’ when the shooting began. She lost her life in the shooting, and her daughter was also named as a victim.
Incidents of femicide often target women in politics or the public eye. Mexico is tied with Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia for the fourth-highest recorded instances of femicide, according to data from the United Nations.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a statement on Thursday that authorities were working to identify Marquez’s killer and expressed solidarity with the influencer’s family.
Marquez was popular on social media for her beauty and lifestyle videos, amassing over 110,000 followers.
