A second female influencer has been shot and killed just days after Valeria Marquez was murdered on a live stream.
In a horrifying scene captured partially on camera, 22-year-old Colombian model and influencer Maria Jose Estupinan was shot and killed at close range as she opened the door to a man pretending to be a delivery driver, per CNN.
“It could be an alleged femicide, since she filed several complaints for domestic violence in previous years, but that is a matter of investigation,” Colonel Leonardo Capacho, commander of District One of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Police, stated.
Magda Victoria Acosta, president of the National Gender Commission of the Colombian Judiciary, confirmed the details of the attack during a press conference, revealing that Estupinan had been studying at a university in the northeastern city of Cucuta.
“She was a young, enterprising woman with a whole life ahead of her, but those dreams are cut short like the dreams of many women in this country,” Acosta said.
A nearby security camera showed the assailant fleeing the scene after firing the fatal shots, with chilling screams for help echoing in the background.
Estupinan had previously reported an ex-partner for abuse. “He stalked her and abused her,” said Alejandra Vera, director of Mujer Denuncia y Muévete, a local women’s advocacy group.
Just days earlier, 23-year-old Valeria Marquez, a rising beauty influencer in Mexico, was gunned down while livestreaming from her Blossom Beauty Lounge salon in Zapopan, Jalisco.
With over 120,000 TikTok followers and more than 90,000 on Instagram, Marquez was engaging with her audience when the attack happened on May 13 at approximately 6:30PM local time, per PEOPLE.
Moments before the shooting, she cryptically said: “They’re coming,” followed by a voice off-camera saying, “Hey, Vale?”
“Yes,” she replied before muting the stream. Seconds later, gunshots rang out.
Marquez was shot twice in the head and once in the chest. The stream caught her clutching her ribcage before collapsing, as a figure appeared, picked up her phone, and ended the broadcast.
According to the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office, the shooter posed as a delivery driver entering the salon under the guise of dropping off an “expensive gift.”
Authorities have launched a femicide investigation—a protocol in Mexico used for gender-based killings.
Hours earlier, Marquez went live with a chilling message: “They came in the morning to get me to give me a gift. Did they want to kill me?”
She explained that an employee, Erika, told her someone had sent a valuable package that required her to personally accept it. Marquez had previously alleged that an ex-partner had threatened her life, stating he should be held responsible if anything happened to her.
Local media identified the suspected killer as 'Doble R', a reported figure in the Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel, and allegedly Marquez’s former romantic partner.
According to El Heraldo, he had grown furious over Marquez receiving gifts from fans online.
“In response to media reports that directly point to the alleged perpetrators of the murder of a woman, which occurred yesterday in Zapopan, the State Attorney General's Office clarifies that, to date, there are no specific allegations in the investigation file,” prosecutors clarified on May 14.
Marquez’s murder echoes a disturbing pattern across the region. In Colombia, the PARES foundation reported 633 femicides in 2022 and 630 in 2023.
In Mexico, the United Nations states that since 2001, at least 50,000 women have been murdered.
The Guardian reports that in Mexico alone, 10 women and girls are killed every single day, often by partners or family members.
Jalisco, where Marquez was killed, ranks sixth out of Mexico’s 32 states in total homicides, with 906 recorded since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October 2024, according to TResearch.