A Mexican cartel suspect has been arrested more than a year after influencer Valeria Márquez was shot dead during a livestream. Yes, the case has taken a very dark turn. And somehow, the plot keeps getting more disturbing.
Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, who is reportedly linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was arrested by Mexican authorities on Thursday, July 30, according to reports. He is suspected of ordering separate attacks, including one targeting Márquez and another involving a former mayor.
Márquez was only 23 when she was killed in May 2025. She was livestreaming from her beauty salon in Zapopan, Jalisco, when a gunman allegedly entered and shot her.
The shocking murder happened in front of viewers watching the livestream.
According to reports cited by The Times, authorities suspect Álvarez Ayala may have ordered the hit because Márquez had previously dated his son. That alleged connection has added another disturbing layer to a case that already had plenty of questions surrounding it.
At a press conference the day after Álvarez Ayala’s arrest, Mexico’s secretary of security and citizen protection, Omar García Harfuch, linked him to the influencer’s death, according to Mexican newspaper Milenio.
García Harfuch said that members of Álvarez Ayala’s criminal cell acted on his orders to kill Marquez, according to ABC 7. The content creator had previously dated Álvarez Ayala’s son Francisco, according to reports.
García Harfuch claimed that Francisco had a “romantic relationship” with Marquez and said that he “threatened her on several occasions,” per Milenio. Francisco is the main suspect in the case, the outlet reported.
The security official said that Francisco asked his father, Álvarez Ayala, to organize the hit on Marquez.
Francisco and the gunman are still at large, The Times reported.
Márquez was known online for her beauty content and glamorous lifestyle. The arrest is being seen as a major development in the investigation.
Denis Rodríguez, a spokesperson for the JSPO, previously told the Associated Press that a man posed as a delivery driver pretending to have a “very expensive” gift for Marquez hours before she arrived at the Blossom Beauty Lounge on Tuesday, May 13.
The man, who was wearing a mask, was accompanied by another man on a motorcycle at the salon, located in Jalisco, 341 miles west of Mexico City.
They told a woman there that they had to deliver the gift in person, the AP previously reported.
Marquez said she was “worried” on the TikTok livestream after discovering that the men were asking for her.
“Maybe they were going to kill me. Were they going to come and take me away, or what?” she said in the livestream, per the AP.
Minutes later, the men returned and shot her in the head and chest. Her followers then saw her collapse onto the floor, the outlet reported.
For Márquez’s family, friends and followers, the arrest may offer a long-awaited development, but it does not erase what happened.
Flip the pages for photo of Valeria Marquez.
