Beauty influencer expressed fear for her life minutes before she was shot and killed on livestream
More details have been revealed about the last moments of beauty influencer and TikToker Valeria Marquez, who was shot dead at 23 while she was livestreaming.
According to CBS News, prosecutors said she voiced out that she was fearing for her life just minutes before she was murdered.
"Maybe they were going to kill me. Were they going to come and take me away, or what? I'm worried," she was heard saying in the video.
Denis Rodríguez, a spokesperson for the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office, disclosed that it looks like Marquez was killed by a hit man.
According to him, preliminary investigation showed that hours before her killing, a masked man entered her beauty salon pretending he was a delivery rider who had a "very expensive" gift for her. With him was another man on a motorcycle.
The victim expressed fear for her life when she saw them and heard that they were looking for her.
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.
"The aggressor arrived asking if the victim (Márquez) was there. So it appears he didn't know her," Rodríguez said. "With that, you can deduce—without jumping to conclusions—that this was a person who was paid. It was obviously someone who came with a purpose."
Marquez was killed on Tuesday, May 13. The prosecutor's office have not named a suspect.
Her death is being investigated according to protocols for femicide—the killing of women or girls for reasons of gender—the Jalisco state prosecutor said.
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. (with reports from Reuters)
