A beauty queen who has been likened to El Chapo’s wife was charged with gunning down a cartel member in the parking garage of a ritzy San Diego apartment.
Lidia Vanessa Gurrola Peraza, who is most commonly known as Vanessa Gurrola, was arrested in San Diego on October 9 accused of killing Christian Espinoza Silver.
Silver, also known by his alias El Chato, was gunned down on February 17, 2024 inside his BMW. He had links to the Arellano Félix Cartel.
Gurrola, 32, is reportedly being held at the Las Colinas detention center and will next face court for a hearing on November 19.
She has denied the charges.Â
While police have not yet revealed a motive, early reports suggested the shooting may have been linked to a turf war, according to the East Bay Times.
El Chato was rushed to hospital following the shooting but was later declared dead.Â
Lidia Vanessa Gurrola Peraza, who is most commonly known as Vanessa Gurrola, was arrested in San Diego on October 9 accused of killing Christian Espinoza Silver
Gurrola is a Mexican beauty queen and social media influencer from Sinaloa and supporters often compare her appearance to El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel (pictured)
A 39-year-old passenger who was in the car with him at the time survived the attack.
San Diego authorities described the shooting at the time as a ‘targeted attack.’
At the time, investigators described the shooter as a male, who was wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants and had a black backpack.Â
They said the shooter fled the scene immediately after approaching the car and opening fire.Â
El Chato had reported links to Edwin Huerta Nuño, also known as ‘El Flaquito,’ who was arrested in Tijuana in June.
Gurrola is a Mexican beauty queen and social media influencer from Sinaloa and supporters often compare her appearance to El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel.
Coronel married ruthless Mexican drug lord JoaquÃn ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera when she was just a teenager
She documented her life of luxury to more than one million Instagram followers prior to her arrest, sharing pictures of international travel and designer goods
She documented her life of luxury to more than one million Instagram followers prior to her arrest, sharing pictures of international travel and designer goods.Â
She commented on the similarities in 2018, telling local Mexican media outlets the comparisons to Coronel ‘did not bother me’, but denying she had any blood relation.
Coronel married ruthless Mexican drug lord JoaquÃn ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera when she was just a teenager.
She was sentenced to three years behind bars in 2021 after pleading guilty to three counts of helping her husband’s Mexico-based Sinaloa drug cartel, including conspiracy to launder money and distribute illegal drugs and engaging in financial dealings.Â
She was released on September 13, 2023 – but her kingpin husband continues to serve a life-plus-30-years sentence in Colorado‘s federal Supermax prison.
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Beauty Queen likened to El Chapo’s wife charged with gunning down cartel member in California