A former beauty queen and model has been shot dead while travelling in a car.
Esther Gabriela Murillo Cruz was riding with her partner and their baby when they were ambushed by two men on a motorbike.
The pillion passenger pulled out a gun and sprayed the vehicle with bullets at around 3 a.m. on Saturday (26 Jul).
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The 25-year-old was rushed to a local hospital in Manta, Ecuador, with gunshot wounds to her vital organs.
She was pronounced dead shortly after admission.
Her 30-year-old partner was also injured in the attack and remained hospitalised at the time of the latest update on Saturday evening.
Some reports say their one-year-old daughter was unharmed, while others claim she is also in the hospital in serious condition.
Authorities have not confirmed whether Murillo was the attackers’ intended target.
An investigation is underway to identify the perpetrators and determine the motive, as reported by Need To Know.
Murillo, originally from Pedernales in Manabí province, was crowned local “Queen of Commerce” in 2016.
She went on to become “Queen of Pedernales” in 2017 and won the “Queen of Manabí Folklore” title in 2018.
She had tens of thousands of followers on TikTok.
Manta has been one of Ecuador’s cities hardest hit by organised crime in recent years.
