Popular influencer shot dead during livestream outside restaurant
Cesar Gastelum, who had more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, was broadcasting with two friends when he was killed.
On a Tuesday, a popular Mexican influencer named Cesar Gastelum was killed while live streaming his day outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, a region plagued by cartel and gang violence. Gastelum, with over 600,000 followers on TikTok, was streaming alongside two friends, all dressed as food delivery personnel. Surveillance footage showed a motorcycle with two individuals pull up beside them, and later, the video of the stream revealed the driver apparently firing at Gastelum.
The live broadcast was stopped and later taken down, though the footage of the attack continued to spread online. Initially, local police reported the death of a delivery worker, later correcting it to be Gastelum, estimated to be 25 years old. Authorities believe the attack was a response to social media posts about a criminal group, according to a statement from Mexico's Security Cabinet on X, though no further details were provided.
Both military and police forces were present, and forensic teams collected evidence and removed the body, according to reports from local television. The area has been unstable for the past two years due to internal conflicts within a powerful local cartel. Over the years, around a dozen influencers, some reportedly affiliated with criminal gangs, have been killed in Sinaloa.
In 2024, influencer Valeria Marquez was also murdered during a livestream at a beauty salon, allegedly by a hired assassin. Recently, Ramon Angel Alvarez Ayala, linked to Marquez's murder and the November 2025 killing of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, was arrested in Jalisco. In January 2025, pamphlets were reportedly dropped in Culiacan by a small plane, warning around 20 artists and YouTubers about their alleged connections to a rival faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Influencer violence has not been limited to Mexico, as in Venezuela last year, a TikTok influencer was killed during a livestream after criticizing members of a criminal gang and certain corrupt police officers.
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