The victim, Landy Párraga.
Credit: Instagram/landyparraga.ec
An Ecuadorian social media influencer and former beauty queen was shot in a restaurant by a couple of assailants who might have traced her to the establishment after she posted a story on Instagram. The incident occurred in Quevedo.
Police officials believe it was the Instagram post that helped the assailants locate the victim, according to a report by The Telegraph.
The publication also states that there is ongoing media speculation that the victim, 23-year-old Landy Párraga, was somehow linked to organised crime. Notably, the murder occured shortly after Párraga's name cropped up in a corruption enquiry.
CCTV cameras installed in the restaurant showed two gunmen shooting her multiple times.
The publication reports that Párraga came fifth in the 2022 Miss Ecuador edition. She was allegedly a mistress of a drug trafficker, Leandro Norero, who was himself killed in prsion around 18 months back.
A number of her pictures, as well as those of the gifts that Norero had given her, were recovered on the latter's phone post his death.
“If my wife comes across anything about her, I’m screwed,” the drug lord had told one of his associates, the publication reported.
Lina Romero, who is the widow of Norero, has been accused of attempting to give bribes to prosecutors and judges.
Párraga was the owner of a sports clothing label as well as an import business, which investigators suspect were fronts to launder money for Norero. The victim reportedly has more than a million TikTok followers.
Note: DH has not independently verified the authenticity of the video.