{"id":30105,"date":"2026-08-06T18:24:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30105"},"modified":"2026-08-06T18:24:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:24:37","slug":"mexican-influencer-cesar-gastelum-said-he-was-scared-before-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30105","title":{"rendered":"Mexican influencer Cesar Gast\u00e9lum said he was &#8216;scared&#8217; before murder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2F136634520.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/05\/world-news\/cesar-gastelum-mexican-tiktok-influencer-shot-to-death-during-livestream\/\">Murdered Mexican influencer Cesar Gast\u00e9lum<\/a> chillingly uttered, \u201cThose guys scare me\u201d \u2014 just moments before being shot dead by a motorbike-riding assassin on a live-stream, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>Gast\u00e9lum, 24, was gunned down during a social media skit with two pals outside a KFC restaurant in Culiac\u00e1n, Sinaloa, Mexico, on Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The trio, dressed as food delivery workers, were standing by the restaurant\u2019s drive-thru and Gast\u00e9lum expressed fear after spotting a motorcycle nearby.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe motorcycle, the motorcycle,\u201d one of Gast\u00e9lum\u2019s pals said, according to the Mexican outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/heraldodemexico.com.mx\/nacional\/2026\/8\/5\/motociclistas-vigilaron-cesar-gastelum-minutos-antes-de-asesinarlo-asi-fueron-captados-en-su-transmision-video-863588.html\">El Heraldo de Mexico<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cesar Gast\u00e9lum was performing a social media stunt with two pals before he was shot dead. <span class=\"credit\">JamPress<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThose guys scare me,\u201d Gast\u00e9lum ominously replied.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Minutes later, Gast\u00e9lum was shot in the head at point-blank range.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The two people on the bike fled the scene and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has vowed the killers will be brought to justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe actual perpetrators \u2014 and if applicable, the mastermind \u2014 must be arrested, and the reason behind this tragic homicide must be uncovered,\u201d she said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The authorities are investigating whether his killing was linked to cartel violence.<\/p>\n<p>Gast\u00e9lum, who boasted more than 650,000 TikTok followers, described himself as a \u201cbelico,\u201d a term that literally translates as \u201cwarlike\u201d and is used as slang in cartel culture.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Gast\u00e9lum posing in front of a car plastered in yellow no-entry stickers. <span class=\"credit\">@cesargastelum_57\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sinaloa, located in northwest Mexico, has been plagued by cartel violence.<\/p>\n<p>Culiac\u00e1n has seen clashes involving factions of the Sinaloa Cartel. <\/p>\n<p>The cartel is \u201cone of the world\u2019s most powerful drug cartels and is one of the largest producers and traffickers of fentanyl and other illicit drugs to the United States,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/designation-of-international-cartels\">the Trump Administration said<\/a> last February, declaring it a foreign terrorist organization.<\/p>\n<p>The criminal organization \u201chas used violence to murder, kidnap, and intimidate civilians, government officials, and journalists,\u201d the White House said.<\/p>\n<p>The Los Chapitos faction would leave a pizza or pizza box on a dead body, while members of the Los Mayos faction would leave behind a sombrero, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>Gast\u00e9lum was filmed wearing a white sombrero before being shot, and wearing hats could signify an allegiance to one cartel faction.<\/p>\n<p>Alejandro Fierro, who was live-streaming with Gast\u00e9lum at the time, said his friend \u201cnever deserved this.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Investigators at the crime scene in the Mexican city of Culiacan. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t understand the situation and I don\u2019t think I ever will,\u201d he wrote on his Instagram Stories in Spanish, describing the tragedy as the \u201cworst day\u201d of his life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll do with my life without you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy friend and I were just two young guys with a dream who weren\u2019t hurting anyone,\u201d Fierro said in another post.<\/p>\n<p>Gast\u00e9lum was killed one year after influencer Valeria Marquez, 23, was <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/05\/14\/world-news\/tiktok-influencer-valeria-marquez-killed-during-livestream-from-her-beauty-salon\/\">gunned down in her Jalisco beauty salon.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Drug lord Ram\u00f3n \u00c1ngel \u00c1lvarez Ayala, a senior figure in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/03\/world-news\/mexican-drug-lord-arrested-after-allegedly-ordering-influencers-live-streamed-murder\/\">allegedly ordered her assassination<\/a> because she and his son had broken up, according to Mexican authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>With Post wires<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Murdered Mexican influencer Cesar Gast\u00e9lum chillingly uttered, \u201cThose guys scare me\u201d \u2014 just moments before being shot dead by a motorbike-riding assassin on a live-stream, according to reports. Gast\u00e9lum, 24, was gunned down during a social media skit with two pals outside a KFC restaurant in Culiac\u00e1n, Sinaloa, Mexico, on Tuesday night.\u00a0 The trio, dressed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/136634520.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}