Popular beauty influencer shot dead during TikTok livestream at her salon in Mexico

A Mexican social media influencer was shot dead during a live stream on TikTok, where she had tens of thousands of followers, authorities said Wednesday.

The Mexican press named her as Valeria Marquez, 23, who posted videos related to beauty and lifestyle, some of which had hundreds of thousands of views.

She was killed on Tuesday evening at her beauty salon in Zapopan, a suburb of the western city of Guadalajara, the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office reported.

“The victim is someone with an active presence and influence on social media,” it said in a statement. “A man entered the premises and apparently fired a gun at her.”

According to the Reuters news agency, Marquez was seen on the livestream saying, “they’re coming,” before a voice off screen asked “Hey, Vale?” Marquez replied “yes” before muting the sound on the livestream and seconds later, she was fatally shot, Reuters reported.

The motive of the attack was not immediately known.

The region is a hotbed of criminal activity, home to one of Mexico’s most violent drug trafficking groups, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The group has been accused of using fake job advertisements to lure new members and of torturing and killing recruits who resist

So far, however, investigators have found no evidence that a criminal group was behind the shooting, state security coordinator Roberto Alarcon told reporters.

Zapopan mayor Juan Jose Frangie said that his office has no record of Marquez requesting help from authorities because of threats against her.

“It’s incredible that you’re making a video and then you’re murdered. A femicide is the worst thing,” Frangie said.

According to media reports, Marquez was killed by a man pretending to bring her a gift.

Just a few hours later, a former congressman with the Mexican PRI party, Luis Armando Córdova Díaz, was also shot dead in a cafe in the area, the Associated Press reported. The state prosecutor’s office said he was killed in the Valle Real neighborhood of Zapopan.

The United Nations says that around 10 women or girls are murdered every day in Mexico, where criminal and gender-related violence is rampant.

Since 2001, at least 50,000 women have been murdered in Mexico,  according to the U.N, but only 2% of cases end in a criminal sentence and only one in 10 victims reports their aggressor.