Mexico’s powerful security cabinet is investigating the murder of a young beauty influencer killed as she livestreamed a video on TikTok, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.
Authorities say the death of Valeria Màrquez, 23, is being probed as a possible femicide, the killing of women or girls for reasons of gender.
The brazen killing has sent shockwaves through a country that faces high levels of violence against women.
“An investigation is under way to first find those responsible and the motive behind this situation,” Sheinbaum said in her regular morning press conference.
“Our solidarity goes out to her family,” she added.
Marquez was killed on Tuesday in the beauty salon where she worked in the city of Zapopan by a man who entered and shot her, the Jalisco state prosecutor said. The prosecutor’s office did not name a suspect.
Seconds before the incident, Marquez was seen on her TikTok livestream seated at a table clutching a stuffed toy. She was heard saying, “They’re coming,” before a voice in the background asked, “Hey, Vale?”
“Yes,” Marquez replied, just before muting the sound on the livestream.
Moments later, she was shot to death. A person appeared to pick up her phone, with their face briefly showing on the livestream before the video ended.
Paramedics at the scene confirmed she died of gunshot wounds to the head and chest, according to news outlet El Financiero.
Màrquez, who had nearly 200,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, had said earlier on the livestream that someone came to the salon when she was not there with an “expensive gift” to deliver to her. Màrquez, who appeared concerned, said she was not planning to wait for the person to return.
“Up to this moment, there are no accusations against specific individuals,” the Jalisco prosecutor’s office said in a Wednesday night statement.
Femicide can involve degrading violence, sexual abuse, a relationship with the murderer or the victim’s body being exposed in a public space, according to Mexican authorities.
Sheinbaum said Mexico’s security cabinet, staffed by senior ministers, is working to solve the murder case with prosecutors.
Mexico is tied with Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia as the countries with the fourth-highest rates of femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the latest data from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, at 1.3 such deaths for every 100,000 women in 2023.
Jalisco is ranked sixth out of Mexico’s 32 states, including Mexico City, for homicides, with 909 recorded there since the beginning of Sheinbaum’s term in October 2024, according to data consultancy TResearch.
By Raul Cortes and Drazen Jorgic; Edited by Stephen Eisenhammer, Cassandra Garrison and Rod Nickel