'They're coming': Mexican beauty influencer Valeria Márquez shot dead on TikTok live; what we know so far

A 23-year-old Mexican beauty influencer, Valeria Márquez, was fatally shot during a TikTok live stream on Tuesday. The chilling incident has reignited national outrage over gender-based violence. The brazen killing occurred at a beauty salon in Jalisco's Zapopan, where Márquez worked and was livestreaming to her followers.

According to the Jalisco state prosecutor, the case is being investigated as a femicide, a gender-based crime that often involves degrading or sexually violent elements, ties to the perpetrator, or public exposure of the victim's body.What happenedMárquez, known for her makeup tutorials and beauty content, was livestreaming to her nearly 200,000 followers when the attack happened. Just moments before the shooting, she appeared on camera holding a stuffed toy and said, "They're coming," in an anxious tone.

A voice off-camera called out, "Hey, Vale?" to which she responded, "Yes." She then muted the audio.Seconds later, gunshots rang out. The stream appeared to capture the sound of the attack, and a person briefly picked up Márquez's phone, revealing part of their face before the live feed abruptly ended.The suspect, who has not been identified or apprehended, reportedly entered the salon and shot Márquez before fleeing.

A troubling warningEarlier during the same live stream, Márquez had expressed concern over a visit from an unknown person who had come to the salon when she wasn't there, claiming to have brought her an "expensive gift." She told viewers she had no intention of waiting for them to return.Femicide crisis in MexicoMárquez's murder underscores Mexico's ongoing femicide crisis. The country is tied with Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia for the fourth-highest femicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.3 such deaths per 100,000 women, according to 2023 data from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.The state of Jalisco, where the killing occurred, ranks sixth in the country for homicides. Since October 2024, the start of President Claudia Sheinbaum's term, 906 homicides have been recorded in the state, according to data consultancy TResearch.