Who was Valeria Márquez? What to know about TikTok influencer killed while livestreaming
Show Caption
Hide Caption
TikTok influencer Valeria Marquez shot while livestreaming in Mexico
A man fatally shot a 23-year-old Mexican TikTok influencer, Valeria Marquez, while she was livestreaming.
Valeria Márquez, an influencer who was fatally shot in Mexico, made a name for herself on social media.
Though the 23-year-old was best known for making aspirational beauty and lifestyle content online, she was also the owner of Blossom the Beauty Lounge, a budding salon in Zapopan, a city located in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.
The influencer was shot and killed on May 13 at her salon by an unknown assailant while she was livestreaming on TikTok.
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the President of Mexico, confirmed an investigation into Márquez's death was underway, telling a pool of reporters at a May 15 press conference that the federal government and authorities in Jalisco were actively working to find those responsible and uncover a motive.
The beauty parlor, an avid proponent of self-care, was open from August 2024 up until Márquez's murder.
From massages to hair extensions, Blossom the Beauty Lounge offered a range of services to its clientele. Márquez also created content to promote her business, filming various videos of the customers and the establishment since it opened.
"There is no better treatment than the time you dedicate to yourself" was the slogan associated with Márquez's business.
Here's what to know about Valeria Márquez.
Who was Valeria Márquez?
Márquez was a model, influencer and entrepreneur.
Márquez, originally from Guadalajara, amassed a following from sharing beauty and lifestyle content on both TikTok and Instagram. But her winning Miss Rostro, a regional beauty pageant, in 2021 is what kicked her career as an influencer into high gear.
What made her stand out from the crowded space was her authenticity and how close she was to her followers, with whom she shared personal experiences and advice. She also shared photos of her outfits, various travels and from photoshoots on her personal Instagram account, which has over 380,000 followers.
What happened to Valeria Márquez?
An unidentified male approached Márquez while she was broadcasting live on TikTok from her salon. The exchange, heard on TikTok, began around 6:30 p.m.
The assailant asked for Márquez by name and shot her in the chest and head after confirming her identity. He fled the salon on a motorcycle, according to reports from local outlets. The broadcast was interrupted by one of Márquez's friends, who was also in the salon.
Hours before the shooting, Márquez told her followers she was concerned about suspicious packages and unnerving messages, telling them she wanted to get out of there.
The Jalisco Attorney General's Office is currently investigating Márquez's death as a femicide, an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation. Márquez's remains were reportedly identified and released to her family.
The family held a service for Márquez in Guadalajara on May 14, the day after she was fatally shot in her salon.
"Femicide is driven by discrimination against women and girls, unequal power relations, gender stereotypes or harmful social norms," according to UN Women. "It is the most extreme and brutal manifestation of violence against women and girls which occurs on a continuum of multiple and related forms of violence..."
The agency also clarified on May 14 that there is no evidence, at least in this stage of the investigation, that points to any one person despite public speculation.
Any statements or allegations made related to Márquez's death, whether on social media or in the press, will be "processed and analyzed," officials said. Additional details about the case were not immediately available.
Contributing: Saleen Martin and Boris Q'va, USA TODAY
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a few seconds ago
- Yahoo
Sha'Carri Richardson addresses domestic violence arrest and apologizes to Christian Coleman
Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson addressed her recent domestic violence arrest in a video on social media and issued an apology to her boyfriend Christian Coleman. Richardson posted a video on her Instagram account Monday night in which she said she put herself in a 'compromised situation.' She issued a written apology to Coleman on Tuesday morning. 'I love him & to him I can't apologize enough," the reigning 100-meter world champion wrote in all capital letters on Instagram, adding that her apology 'should be just as loud' as her 'actions.' 'To Christian I love you & I am so sorry," she wrote. Richardson was arrested July 27 on a fourth-degree domestic violence offense for allegedly assaulting Coleman at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. She was booked into South Correctional Entity in Des Moines, Washington, for more than 18 hours. Her arrest was days before she ran the 100 meters at the U.S. championships in Eugene, Oregon. In the video, Richardson said she's practicing 'self-reflection' and refuses 'to run away but face everything that comes to me head on.' According to the police report, an officer at the airport was notified by a Transportation Security Administration supervisor of a disturbance between Richardson and her boyfriend, Coleman, the 2019 world 100-meter champion. The officer reviewed camera footage and observed Richardson reach out with her left arm and grab Coleman's backpack and yank it away. Richardson then appeared to get in Coleman's way with Coleman trying to step around her. Coleman was shoved into a wall. Later in the report, it said Richardson appeared to throw an item at Coleman, with the TSA indicating it may have been headphones. The officer said in the report: "I was told Coleman did not want to participate any further in the investigation and declined to be a victim.' A message was left with Coleman from The Associated Press. Richardson wrote that Coleman 'came into my life & gave me more than a relationship but a greater understanding of unconditional love from what I've experienced in my past.' She won the 100 at the 2023 world championships in Budapest and finished with the silver at the Paris Games last summer. She also helped the 4x100 relay to an Olympic gold. She didn't compete during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 following a positive marijuana test at the U.S. Olympic trials. ___ AP Summer Olympics:
New York Post
a minute ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani mentions Andrew Cuomo in same breath as Jeffrey Epstein in new video
Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is going nuclear on rival Andrew Cuomo — attempting to link the ex-governor to Jeffrey Epstein in a new scorched-earth campaign video. In the 90-second TikTok-style spot, Mamdani, looking into the camera, demands that Cuomo release his list of consulting clients, noting the ex-gov once worked on a luxury marina project with a pal, Andrew Farkas, whose former business partner was Epstein. 'In June, the New York Times found out that Cuomo worked with his longtime friend Andrew Farkas on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico. Farkas' previous partner on Caribbean luxury marinas was none other than Jeffrey Epstein,' Mamdani says. 8 Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani released a scathing new attack ad against his rival former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 8 The video lists of a number of alleged scandals involving the ex-governor — even linking him to Jeffrey Epstein. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock The mud-slinging from Mamdani comes days after Cuomo hammered the socialist for snagging a $2,300 rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria despite his family's apparent wealth. Cuomo even proposed 'Zohran's Law' to prevent well-to-do residents from obtaining rent-restricted apartments. The new spot starts with Mamdani noting that Cuomo 'resigned in disgrace and you probably know why' — then shows footage and articles about women who accused the then-gov of sexual misconduct and the controversy surrounding his nursing home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic mayoral nominee demands that Cuomo release the list of clients from the consulting firm he launched in 2022 after he exited the governor's office, Innovative Strategies LLC. Mamdani gripes in the video that Cuomo has not divulged who paid him. But published reports have said Cuomo worked for a crypto currency exchange based in the Seychelles that eventually pleaded guilty to operating illegally in the US. The Democratic socialist Queens assemblyman also notes that Cuomo did not initially disclose $2.6 million in stock options from a nuclear company to the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board. 8 The ad mentions that Cuomo worked on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico with friend Andrew Farkas — who was a business partner with Epstein. New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP 8 Mamdani's ad highlights a Bloomberg article showing a link between Epstein and Farkas. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 'His excuse? The stocks were technically owned by Innovation Strategies LLC – where Cuomo is the sole member,' Mamdani says. 'That's the thing about Andrew Cuomo: once you think you've learned all the scandals, you find out there's another. And another. And another. ' Cuomo can clear the air, Mamdani says, adding: 'Habibi – release your client list.' 8 A photo of Cuomo with Farkas shown in the Mamdani ad. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC A rep for Cuomo gleefully responded that they could 'smell the desperation from conspiracy peddling' in Mamdani's attack. '[Cuomo] didn't know Epstein, but you can smell the desperation from conspiracy peddling Zohran,' said Cuomo campaign spokesman Richard Azzopardi. The former governor — who is running as an independent in the November election after getting soundly bested by Mamdani in the Democratic primary — also has vehemently denied he sexually harassed anyone. 8 Mamdani also bashed Cuomo over his COVID-19 book scandal. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC One campaign strategist said Mamdani's ad was a 'gutsy move' — and likely a response to Cuomo scoring points by hitting him for his rent-stabilized apartment. 'It's a gutsy move. Mamdani is defining Cuomo to general election voters on his terms,' said O'Brien 'OB' Murray, who has run campaigns for Republicans and Democrats. He said Mamdani is not leaving it to campaign surrogates to do the dirty work and is willing to go toe-to-toe with Cuomo. 8 Mamdani also took a shot at Cuomo's performance in the city's Democratic mayoral primary. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 'It's a page out of Donald Trump's playbook. When the candidates say something about an opponent, voters pay attention to it,' Murray said. But Mamdani risks 'tarnishing' his image by getting in the mud with Cuomo, even if he wants to keep the focus on the ex-gov's past scandals, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion. 'The Cuomo people are probably happy to draw a response. They want to engage Mamdani,' Miringoff said. 'Zohran risks tarnishing his image.' 8 Mamdani called on Cuomo to release the list of clients involved with his consulting firm Innovative Strategies LLC. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC Azzopardi dismissed the video as 'nothing more than a temper tantrum from an insecure child of privilege who knows his tenuous lead is slipping away.' He said the project in question with Farkas never got off the ground, and in regards to his consultancy business, Cuomo does not comment on those 'private client matters' and has not represented anyone with business before a New York city or state agency. Azzopardi also said the stock options were publicly disclosed in Federal Communication Commission files for years. 'There was a question about if and how they were required to be disclosed on city filings, which, after consulting with the Conflict of Interest board, we corrected the same day the matter was brought to our attention,' the Cuomo rep said. 'Try as he might, Zohran can't distract from the rank hypocrisy of growing up wealthy, owning hundreds of thousands of dollars of land in a country that has the death penalty for LGBTQIA people and making more than $140k a year for a job he doesn't show up to while taking a rent stabilized apartment meant for a working New Yorker, not to mention his flip flopping on the defund the police and supporting pro-Hamas criminals like the Holy Land Five,' Azzopardi said. 'He's a total fraud and with every passing day New Yorkers see it.'
Los Angeles Times
a minute ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ángela Aguilar, regional Mexican royalty, plots her next power move
Ángela Aguilar may be an elegant interpreter of música Mexicana, a genre that her family has dominated for generations. Yet when I sit across from the 21-year-old singer at a dining hall on Olvera Street, she exudes a commanding diva spirit that is all her own. It is a fierceness that surfaces most prominently when the conversation turns to the business of music, her family's legacy and her recent marriage to young Mexican singer-songwriter Christian Nodal. When it comes to her latest album, 'Nadie Se Va Como Llegó,' Aguilar's 12-song set of romantic ballads, it's clear the Latin Grammy-nominated singer is delving into music rooted in heartache — but she insists that the latest songs, colored by the agony of unrequited love, have nothing to do with her personal life. 'I'm not singing to anybody, I'm not answering to anybody,' declares Aguilar. 'I speak through music, but I'm not sending messages to anyone except to let people know of my love of Mexican culture.' That pride for heritage also comes from being part of a prominent musical dynasty. With conductor Gustavo Dudamel at the helm, she will perform two nights at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 15 and 16 with her famous family, including her hitmaker father Pepe and her brother Emiliano. Her late grandparents, Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre, were icons in both music and films; her mother, Aneliz Alvarez-Alcala, the matriarch of the family, oversees the family's Machin Records. Alvarez-Alcala also guides her famous daughter as a manager. It's a role that, beyond the recording sessions, performances and red carpet appearances, took a challenging turn in recent years as Aguilar was bombarded with criticism online about her marriage, her vocal style — and just about everything else in between. 'Turmoil,' Alvarez-Alcala says, was at the epicenter. 'People have been very opinionated about her personal relationships and it's been very hard for her. Our family has always been very loved by the public. Those criticisms were so undeserved and hard. The way I see it, it made her stronger and more appreciative of the good things, moments and the people who love her.' For Aguilar's part, growing up in music was the norm, and her spotlight has expanded with each project. Childhood showcases with family led to a mesmerizing performance of 'La Llorona' at the 2018 Latin Grammys, when she was met with a standing ovation. It was a seminal moment that marked her place in music, beyond just any nepo baby or child entertainer. 'I deeply admire her artistry and the impact she's making in música Mexicana,' says Yvonne Drazan, vice president of Peer Music's Latin Division, West Coast. 'She represents a new generation of women reshaping the genre with talent, grace and vision.' Drazan cites the range of Aguilar's latest album, which she says 'felt like a modern-day 'Romances,' much like what Luis Miguel did, reintroducing timeless Latin standards to a new audience with a young and fresh approach.' Before recording her latest album, which she executive produced, Aguilar took time away from the family business to cope with the overexposure in the tabloids following her wedding to Nodal. In fact, it was her husband, she says, who encouraged her to 'take time to enjoy life.' The newlyweds traveled to Los Cabos, spent time alone and sang to each other in their own space for inspiration — even if during a typical grocery store outing, as fans filmed their every move. The sabbatical revived her passion for music — and it was support from family and friends that helped Aguilar find her footing once more. The great salsa singer Marc Anthony, who was in attendance at the Aguilar-Nodal wedding in the summer of 2024, was the reason that the Pablo Preciado-penned power ballad, 'No Quiero Hablar,' made it on the new album. 'I've known Marc since I was 5 years old, so I'm super close to him,' says Aguilar, who concedes that she doesn't often share her music with others. 'One night we were having a party at Marc's house, having so much fun and I got the courage to share with him some music. Two weeks later, I got a message about the song, and I [was] thinking he wrote me in error.' The result is a lovelorn duet that is punctuated by the swooning harmonies of Anthony and Aguilar. 'He worked on the song, changed the arrangement and when I heard his voice on it … well, it [was] ridiculous,' she says. When it comes to being part of her family's independent label, Aguilar says it's not easy — in many ways not being on a major label goes against the current of the music industry, and that alone can make business difficult. In fact, she adds, her father has been on a mission to own masters of every one of his albums. 'My dad has been fighting,' she says. 'He's the owner of 27 masters, but he has more albums than that. And it's similar for my husband — he doesn't have one master in his career, and he's one of the top-selling artists in Mexico.' Aguilar recalls having a revealing conversation over dinner with an industry manager in regional Mexican music. 'It's hard to be around you guys and hear your conversations because for me,' he told her, 'if I give my artist a watch, a car, they'll shut up.' Aguilar thinks often of young, inexperienced artists who didn't have the privilege of being in a family of savvy entertainers — those who run the biggest risk of getting cheated out of royalties. It is why she's plotting a foundation that provides education and support to burgeoning artists, so they don't get exploited. 'When that person told me how he works with his artists, I was like 'S—, this is crazy,'' she says. As she builds on her leading and producing roles in music, Aguilar can always count on her own creative edge and her family's legacy. 'Trees with roots don't blow away,' she says as the interview comes to an end. Hovering nearby is an entourage of about half a dozen people, including a makeup artist who's primed to make Aguilar's next touch-up. 'Those roots are embedded within me,' Aguilar adds, 'and that is what keeps me grounded, centered and real.'
