"Maybe they were going to kill me," said Valeria Márquez during a live broadcast on TikTok. Moments later, she was shot dead in her own beauty salon, in a crime that has shocked Mexico and puts the spotlight back on both femicides and the growing violence against influencers.

Marquez, a 23-year-old with 95,000 followers on TikTok, was attacked last Tuesday while interacting with her audience. Her death adds to the alarming figures of gender violence in the country, where an average of ten women are murdered every day, according to UN data.

Although her case has also been linked on social networks to threats that have affected other public figures linked to organized crime, the Jalisco state prosecutor's office is investigating the incident as a femicide and assures that there are no indications of links between Marquez and criminal groups.

In the video, which she was broadcasting from her shop in an exclusive area of Zapopan, a man off camera asks her: "Are you Valeria? Seconds later, she turns off the microphone and gunshots are heard. A woman who was present stops the recording without showing visible emotions.

During the broadcast, Marquez had shown enthusiasm for a stuffed animal in the shape of a pig that she had just received as a gift. Apparently, the gift had already been delivered earlier outside the premises, which left her uneasy as she did not know who had sent it. "Were they going to pick me up or what?" she commented, alluding to a possible kidnapping, a common practice in Jalisco that in many cases culminates in the disappearance of the victim.

Valeria was a creator of content focused on beauty topics, with some videos exceeding 800,000 views.

A case shrouded in uncertainty

According to local authorities, the young woman had not reported any previous threats. The assailant fled the scene on a motorcycle and, at press time, witness interviews and evidence collection continued around the establishment, which was sealed off by the prosecutor's office.

"Absolutely nothing was heard," said an employee of a nearby business, while a waiter who requested anonymity pointed out that they rarely saw her and that she always arrived alone.

For security consultant David Saucedo, regardless of the motives, this is a femicide and should be investigated as such. This, despite media reports that point to alleged connections of some of Marquez's contacts with the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (CJNG).

In Mexico, gender violence is a structural problem: 70% of women over the age of 15 have suffered some form of aggression, according to UN Women. When adding femicides and intentional homicides, the murders of women and girls average ten per day.

Influencers in the crosshairs of crime

Mexico's digital universe has produced stars with enormous popularity, such as Kimberly Loaiza or Luisito Comunica, whose platforms have tens of millions of followers. But it has also exposed people with links or alleged links to organized crime.

Last January, the media reported that in Culiacán, Sinaloa, a small plane dropped flyers threatening a score of artists and content creators for alleged links to "Los Chapitos", a faction of the Sinaloa cartel.

Four of the names on those flyers appeared as "eliminated", among them influencer Jesús Vivanco, known as "Jasper", killed in November 2024. A year earlier, the United States had accused him of cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking.

Another of those accused was singer Peso Pluma, who has not commented publicly on the threats. The dispute between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel has left more than 1,200 dead since September last year.

"Organized crime has integrated influencers into its machinery," says Saucedo, who classifies these characters into three categories: those who act as informants for criminal activities, those linked to money laundering, and people who maintain sentimental relationships with members of criminal groups.

According to the consultant, this phenomenon is reminiscent of the cases of actresses and narcocorrido musicians who were also targeted by cartels in the past.

With an impunity rate of over 90%, Saucedo is skeptical that the murder of Valeria Marquez will be solved, especially if the perpetrators are part of powerful criminal networks.

With information from AFP