World2 min(s) read
Published 10:21 05 Aug 2026 GMT
A Mexican influencer was shot dead while livestreaming with friends outside a fast food restaurant in Culiacán on Tuesday, authorities have confirmed, prompting a murder investigation.
Social media star Cesar Gastelum, who had built a following of nearly 600,000 on TikTok, had risen to recognition for his comic videos on the platform, was in the middle of a livestream when two gunmen pulled up on a motorcycle and approached Cesar and his friends.
The livestream, which was captured in a recording, appears to show the driver of the motorcycle shooting at Gastelum, as he stands with his friends.
Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, reportedly has the third-highest murder rate per 100,000 residents, with the region at the center of cartel war, with organized crime groups competing for control.
This isn’t the only time a Mexican influencer has been killed while on a livestream. In 2025, Valeria Marquex was shot and killed while on a TikTok livestream in Zapopan, Jalisco.
Marquez fell victim after a gunman entered the salon where she was working, and shot her dead, prosecutors have alleged.
Last month, Mexican federal authorities arrested Ramon Angel Alvarez Ayala in Jalisco, known more commonly as “El R-1,” a prominent figure in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Marquez’s alleged murderer is also accused of both ordering and financing the killing of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo, in November 2025.
While no arrests for the murder of Gastelum have been confirmed by authorities yet, tensions in the region are heightened following the police killing of CJNG’s leader, El Mencho, earlier this year, which prompted attacks carried out by the cartel across 20 states, starting in Jalisco.
Thousands of users have since taken to the comments section of his latest video to pay tribute.
