A 22-year-old Colombian model and influencer was gunned down in her own home after opening the door to a man dressed as a delivery worker. The victim, María José Estupiñan, was a university student living in the northeastern city of Cúcuta.
Authorities say the man arrived at her door disguised as a deliveryman. As soon as María José opened the door, he shot her at close range. A security camera captured the attacker fleeing the scene, while screams could be heard in the background.
The shocking murder comes just days after a similar incident in Mexico, where 23-year-old influencer Valeria Márquez was killed inside her beauty salon by a gunman pretending to drop off a gift. Márquez was live streaming at the time of the attack.
María José had previously filed reports of domestic abuse against an ex-boyfriend, according to Colonel Leonardo Capacho of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Police. “It could be an alleged femicide,” he noted, though the investigation remains ongoing.
Officials believe her history with the ex-partner may be connected to the murder. Alejandra Vera, who heads the women’s rights group Mujer Denuncia y Muévete, said that the man had stalked and abused her in the past. At the time of her death, the Colombian influencer was reportedly in the process of receiving a compensation award of 30 million pesos for the domestic abuse case.
Her killing and the near-identical method used in Márquez’s death have reignited anger and grief over femicide across Latin America.
“She was a young, enterprising woman with a whole life ahead of her,” said Magda Victoria Acosta, head of the Colombian Judiciary’s National Gender Commission. “But those dreams are cut short, like the dreams of so many women in this country.”
The investigation into María José Estupiñan’s murder is still underway.
