Latest news with #JaliscoInstituteofForensicSciences
USA Today
15-05-2025
- USA Today
TikToker Valeria Marquez fatally shot during livestream at beauty salon in Mexico
TikToker Valeria Marquez fatally shot during livestream at beauty salon in Mexico A man fatally shot a 23-year-old Mexican TikTok influencer while she was livestreaming on May 13, and investigators are looking at her killing as a femicide case. The woman was identified by Reuters as Valeria Marquez. She was killed in what the Jalisco State Attorney's Office has officially called a femicide, a murder of a woman or girl because of her gender. Marquez was at a beauty salon in western Zapopan, a city located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, prosecutors said in a statement shared on social media. Marquez was inside a beauty salon when a man entered and shot her. Both municipal police officers and paramedics responded to the scene, confirming that Marquez had died, prosecutors said. While no suspect has been identified yet, investigators were at the scene gathering testimony and evidence, as well as social media activity, prosecutors said. The office said experts from the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences were processing the scene, and Marquez's body was taken to forensic medical service personnel for an autopsy. Read in Spanish: Asesinato de Valeria Márquez durante un live en TikTok conmociona al mundo What happened to Valeria Marquez? Marquez often shared photos of herself modeling and traveling. She also worked at the beauty salon where she was killed, reported Reuters. According to the outlet, Marquez said earlier while livestreaming that someone came to the salon while she was out. The person had an expensive gift for her, and she seemed concerned. She said she wasn't waiting for the person to return. Shortly before she was killed, Marquez was seen holding a stuffed toy, then she said 'They're coming.' A voice then said "Hey, Vale,' which translates to "Hey, okay?' Marquez replied 'Yes,' and then muted the livestream. Shortly after, she was shot. Someone grabbed her phone, briefly appearing on screen before the stream ended, reported Reuters. As of May 15, Marquez's following on social media has continued to grow. By noon, the influencer had amassed over 250,000 followers on Instagram. 'It's amazing how you get massive followers only when something happens to you because before you don't even appear in their world,' wrote one user on May 14, translated from Spanish. What is femicide? Prosecutors said the case is being investigated as a face of femicide, sometimes called feminicide. Femicide is the killing of women and girls because of their gender, according to the European Institute for Gender Equality. According to the institute, femicide happens when women are murdered as a result of intimate partner violence, killed in the name of honor, killed in connection to dowries, killed because of their sexual orientation, and other scenarios. Femicides have also been connected to gangs, organized crime, drug dealers, human trafficking and the proliferation of small arms, the institute said. Kidnapping and other crimes in Jalisco Back in September 2024, U.S. officials issued a travel advisory for the state of Jalisco, urging travelers to 'reconsider travel due to crime and kidnapping.' 'Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Jalisco state,' the U.S. Department of State shared. 'In Guadalajara, territorial battles between criminal groups take place in tourist areas. Shooting incidents between criminal groups have injured or killed innocent bystanders. U.S. citizens and (lawful permanent residents) have been victims of kidnapping.' On May 13, prosecutors in Jalisco announced that a woman was arrested for the role she may have played in femicide against another woman. According to prosecutors, the killing happened in May 2024. The victim went to a home where two men and another woman were present. The two men approached the woman, accused her of stealing drugs, and physically assaulted her, prosecutors said. 'The now-detained woman allegedly participated in the attacks that took the victim's life,' prosecutors wrote on May 13. Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Beauty Influencer Shot Dead at 23 During TikTok Livestream Filmed at Her Own Salon
Influencer Valeria Marquez died at age 23 after she was shot at her own beauty salon in Jalisco, Mexico, per a report from the local attorney general The beauty guru and model — who had over 200,000 followers between TikTok and Instagram — was livestreaming when the tragedy occurred Per the Jalisco attorney general's office, authorities are currently investigating the events that led to her death and the person or people responsibleModel and influencer Valeria Marquez has died at 23 while livestreaming from her beauty salon in Jalisco, Mexico. According to a report from the local attorney general's office, the tragedy occurred around 6:30pm, while Marquez was at her Blossom Beauty Lounge. Initial investigations state that a man entered the establishment and fired a gun at her. The fatal blow was caught on camera, as Marquez was actively filming live content on TikTok for her followers. In the video that's since circulated on various platforms, she appears to clutch her ribcage after the blow and slump over. Related: Influencer Dies at Age 24, Just 2 Days Before Her 25th Birthday Per the preliminary report released by Jalisco officials on Tuesday, May 13, authorities responded to 911 calls and verified her death, with paramedics on site confirming she had no vital signs. At the time of the government announcement, police officers and an agent from the public prosecutor's office were gathering intel for further investigation to identify the person or people responsible. Members of the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences reportedly collected evidence, and her body was said to be transported for an autopsy and official identification by family, per the report from the local attorney general's office Her final posts included selfies and professional modeling photos, and she'd just posted a since-expired mirror selfie on her Instagram Stories when news broke of her tragic death. At the time of her death, the beauty guru had 149,000 Instagram followers and over 114,000 TikTok followers, many of whom mourned Marquez in comments on her recent posts. Related: Influencer Dies at 28 After Falling 65 Feet While Mountain Climbing "She was very beautiful," reads an English translation of one user's response. "I hope justice is served, she didn't deserve that ending." Another follower wrote, "I had the opportunity to meet her in person, a person with a very beautiful energy, [I] am still in shock." Read the original article on People
Int'l Business Times
29-04-2025
- Int'l Business Times
Volunteer Groups in Mexico Keep Uncovering Human Remains in Clandestine Graves
A group of volunteers from Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco — a nonprofit organization dedicated to locating missing persons — reported the existence of unauthorized burial sites, or clandestine graves, in the municipality of San Pedro Tlaquepaque, a community located just south of Guadalajara, Jalisco's capital. Members of the group alerted authorities of their discovery, which included human remains found inside improvised structures they described as "little caves," where victims were allegedly incinerated using tires as fuel. According to their accounts, the remains were exposed to the elements rather than buried. During a Facebook live broadcast, members of Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco condemned the lack of response from authorities despite having alerted municipal and state agencies about their discovery. In the broadcast, volunteers displayed several bone fragments, confirming the remains were human. "You can clearly see molars, teeth, burned human remains, vertebrae, and parts of a skull," said one of the group's spokeswomen. According to the public complaint filed by the group, Tlaquepaque municipal police arrived at the scene, collected the volunteers' details, and left shortly after. "It's 9 p.m., and we're still waiting for the authorities who are supposed to be first responders," one woman said. "We notified the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences — they have the report. But no one has shown up. We also alerted homicide and missing persons units, and yet we're out here in the middle of nowhere. This is unacceptable." Sinaloa-based group makes similar discovery Just last week, a volunteer group in the northern state of Sinaloa uncovered multiple clandestine graves in the municipality of Culiacán. Members of Sabuesos Guerreras discovered the remains of at least 12 people spread across seven separate graves. "We were told there were bodies buried in secret... at first, they reported three, but we ended up finding more," said Belinda Aguilar, a member of the group. According to Aguilar, some of the remains appeared to be recent, while others showed advanced signs of decomposition. The Mexican government has stopped tracking clandestine graves According to El País , the Mexican government has largely "given up" on tracking the number of clandestine graves discovered across the country. The outlet notes that the last official effort to maintain an up-to-date record came in 2023, when the . Clandestine graves found in Mexico between 2006 and 2023 That number has likely increased, as communities across Mexico continue to report new discoveries on a near-weekly basis. For instance, in the northern state of Tamaulipas, members of the group Colectivo Amor por los Desaparecidos have identified more than 20 suspected sites this year in Reynosa, where criminal groups allegedly killed and incinerated their victims. Amid the growing controversy surrounding the Izaguirre Ranch case in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, the federal government quietly disabled public access to the website that had tracked the locations of clandestine graves nationwide. The now-inaccessible records showed that from Dec. 1, 2018, to April 30, 2023, a total of 2,863 sites were discovered. According to data collected by the Interior Ministry and cited by Infobae México , only Veracruz (668) reported more such graves than Tamaulipas (554) and Sinaloa (484). Originally published on Latin Times
