On the evening of May 13, 2025, 23‑year‑old beauty influencer Valeria Márquez was shot dead while live-streaming on TikTok from her salon, Blossom The Beauty Lounge, in Zapopan, Mexico.
As Márquez began her routine makeup tutorial at approximately 6:30 p.m., a man posing as a delivery person entered the studio. In the livestream footage, she is heard saying, “he is coming,” before responding to an off‑screen voice asking, “Hi, are you Valeria?”
Moments later, the assailant opened fire, striking her in the chest and head. She collapsed on camera and was pronounced dead at the scene. The gunman fled on a motorcycle and remains at large.
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Local authorities have opened a homicide investigation under Mexico’s femicide protocols—special guidelines for gender‑based killings.
Prosecutors noted that the livestream context, prior threats reported by Márquez, and the public nature of the attack fit the criteria for femicide, elevating the case to a federal investigation.
“A femicide is the worst thing,” Zapopan’s mayor, Juan José Frangie, said, highlighting the region’s growing concern over violence against women.
Femicide refers to the intentional killing of women or girls because of their gender. The term encompasses a range of gender‑motivated murders, including those committed by intimate partners, family members, or strangers.
International human‑rights bodies recognize femicide as both a violation of women’s rights and a profound social problem, mandating that states adopt specific legal definitions and investigative protocols.
Mexico faces one of the highest femicide rates in Latin America. In 2023, the country recorded approximately ten femicides per day, with a national rate of 1.3 deaths per 100,000 women.
States such as Jalisco in Mexico have seen hundreds of gender‑based homicides since late 2024, despite recent reforms intended to strengthen protections and improve policing.
Activists decry widespread impunity for perpetrators and call for better data collection, survivor services, and enforcement of protective orders.
While Latin America is often described as the “femicide belt,” countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe also grapple with high rates of gender‑based murder.
Honduras leads the region with 7.2 femicides per 100,000 women, followed by the Dominican Republic and Brazil.
Elsewhere, South Africa, India, and Turkey have witnessed mass protests demanding stronger government action and accountability for violence against women.
Valeria Márquez’s livestreamed killing has reignited urgent calls for both local and international measures to combat femicide.
Advocacy groups demand lasting political will, comprehensive legal frameworks, and social‑change initiatives to end the normalization of violence against women.
As the Zapopan investigation continues, her death serves as a stark reminder of the dangers that women face—and the work still needed to protect them.
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