A social media influencer who was shot dead during a live stream on TikTok in the Mexican state of Jalisco appeared to be murdered by a hit man and expressed fear before being killed, prosecutors in Mexico said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Valeria Marquez was shot dead at Blossom The Beauty Lounge, a beauty salon owned by the victim in Zapopan, a town in the central-eastern state of Jalisco. The state prosecutor's office said it is investigating the crime as a femicide, meaning that it believes the crime was motivated by the fact the victim was a woman.

Mexican authorities launched an investigation after beauty influencer Valeria Márquez was allegedly shot dead at 23-years-old Monday while livestreaming on TikTok, according to multiple reports. Márquez was sitting at a table and holding a stuffed animal while streaming from her salon in the Colonia Real del Carmen neighborhood of Zapopan,