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A Colombian model and influencer has been killed just days after a Mexican TikTok influencer was fatally shot during a livestream.
On May 15, Maria Jose Estupiñan, a 22-year-old university student living in Colombia’s northern city of Cúcuta, was reportedly shot several times at her residence by a man pretending to be a delivery person.
In security footage that has been widely shared across social media, a man can be seen running away after allegedly shooting Estupiñan, who can be heard screaming in pain.
Estupiñan, who was in her seventh semester at Francisco de Paula Santander University, died shortly after from her injuries.
“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,” said Magda Victoria Acosta, president of the National Gender Commission of the Colombian Judiciary, at a recent news conference, per CNN.
Acosta added that Estupiñan’s death came just as she was expecting to receive 30 million pesos from her ex-partner as part of a domestic violence complaint she filed against him in 2018.
Authorities have said they are investigating Estupiñan’s murder as a suspected femicide, which is the killing of a woman or girl, particularly by a man on account of her gender.
“It could be an alleged femicide, since she filed several complaints for domestic violence in previous years, but that is a matter of investigation,” said Colonel Leonardo Capacho, commander of District One of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Police, according to local news outlet Noticias Caraco.
Estupiñan’s tragic death came just two days after the fatal shooting of Mexican influencer Valeria Márquez, 23, on May 13.
Márquez was livestreaming to her followers from her beauty salon in Jalisco, Mexico, when two men arrived on a motorcycle. One of the men entered the store and asked if she was Valeria, before delivering a small parcel.
“He’s a little piglet!” Márquez reportedly exclaimed as she unwrapped the stuffed animal in front of her viewers before she was shot. Officials have said that the two men swiftly fled the scene.
When police arrived, she was “still sitting in the chair where she was surprised with that doll, the little pig, right there in her arms,” Denis Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office, told The New York Times.
According to Rodriguez, the two men had come into the salon earlier that day and claimed they were trying to deliver a gift to Márquez.
They “most likely didn’t personally know her, as they had to ask for her by name,” Rodríguez told The Times.
“They didn’t have a personal relationship,” he said. “He was simply her executioner.”
Márquez’s murder is also being investigated as a possible femicide.
Several Latin American countries, including Mexico, have the highest rate of femicide in the world, despite the region having laws aimed at preventing and ending violence against women.
According to a 2023 study, at least 11 women are victims of femicide every day in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men's advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
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