Warning: This article contains allegations of violence which some readers may find distressing.
There's another twisted turn in the TikTok tragedy of Valeria Márquez, and in the aftermath of the Mexican beauty influencer being killed while live on stream, the true horrors of her demise are starting to come out.
There's been an increase in concerns for violence against streamers and content creators on platforms like TikTok and Twitch, with Kaitlyn "Amouranth" Siragusa notably being caught in a violent cryptocurrency robbery, while Kai Cenat claims he once woke up to find a fan in his house.
23-year-old Valeria Márquez was working at her beauty salon in Jalisco, Mexico, when two armed gunmen burst into the building and shot her dead while she was live on TikTok. After amassing over 200,000 followers on her various platforms, the former 'Miss Rostro' opened her 'Blossom' beauty lounge in 2024 and regularly posted videos to her accounts.
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On May 13, a masked man posing as a delivery driver turned up at the salon and claimed to have a 'very expensive' gift that had to be given to Márquez in person. A concerned Márquez joked with her viewers, saying: "Maybe they were going to kill me. Were they going to come and take me away, or what?”
Hours later, two men turned up, and the harrowing scene unfolded as she was presented with a wrapped package. After Márquez opened and revealed it to be a 'little piglet' toy, she faced away from the camera and was shot three times. The content creator was seen slumping forward while clutching her chest before an unknown woman turned off the stream. A spokesperson for the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office told The New York Times how Márquez was "still sitting in the chair where she was surprised with that doll, the little pig, right there in her arms."
Initial investigations claim it was a contract killing, with La Derecha Diario reporting on the chilling note that was left at the scene of her murder. Just days later, a mysterious note saying "Sorry" was left at the salon alongside a bouquet of red roses.
The roses were delivered via a seemingly innocent driver, who was instructed to drop them off by an anonymous client through an app. The prosecutor's office has secured the evidence, but can’t confirm whether this was a symbolic act or linked to the crime.
Spokesperson Denis Rodríguez says they don't believe Márquez herself was connected to organized crime, although he thinks she was targeted by hitmen for some unknown reason.
Rogriguez reiterated: "It appears he [the gunman] didn’t know her. With that, you can deduce – without jumping to conclusions – that this was a person who was paid… obviously someone who came with a purpose."
Local authorities are also looking into the murder of a former congressman in the nearby area, which happened just hours before Márquez's shooting. Two men escaped on a motorbike, leaving the police to suggest the two are somehow connected.
Sadly, stories like Márquez's are becoming more prominent, and in 2023, notorious TikToker Sabrina Durán, known as 'Narco Queen', was gunned down by two assassins on the way to a nail salon.