Beauty influencer shot dead during her TikTok livestream at a salon in Mexico

MEXICO CITY: A Mexican social media influencer was shot dead during a live stream for her tens of thousands of followers on TikTok, authorities and local media said.

The Mexican press named her as Valeria Marquez, 23, who posted videos related to beauty and lifestyle, some of which had hundreds of thousands of views.

Valeria appeared to have been speaking to a delivery man off camera on her livestream Tuesday when she was shot once in the chest and once in the head and collapsed, dying instantly.

She was killed on Tuesday evening at a beauty salon in Zapopan, a suburb of the western city of Guadalajara, the state prosecutor's office reported.

"The victim is someone with an active presence and influence on social media," it said in a statement.

"A man entered the premises and apparently fired a gun at her," it added.

The motive of the attack was not immediately known.

According to media reports, Marquez was murdered by a man pretending to bring her a gift while she was broadcasting on TikTok.

Just a few hours later, a former congressman with the Mexican PRI party Luis Armando Córdova Díaz, was also shot dead in a cafe in the area.

Prosecutors in Jalisco were still investigating, but the New Generation Jalisco Cartel maintains firm control over the region.

State authorities said they were investigating Marquez's death as a possible femicide, an extreme case of gender-based violence common in Latin America where a woman is attacked due to her gender.

Marquez's social media accounts have been flooded by comments mourning her and expressing shock.

The United Nations says that around 10 women or girls are murdered every day in Mexico, where criminal and gender-related violence is rampant.