TikTok influencer Sabrina Duran Montero, known as Narco Queen, shot dead at the age of 24 in broad daylight

A TikTok influencer has been killed at the age of 24 as she made her way to a nail salon.

Sabrina Duran Montero, who was known as Narco Queen on the popular platform, was killed earlier this month when she was shot at in broad daylight. Tributes have been paid to the influencer, who was also a mum-of-one, on her social media page in the days since her death.

So, just who was Montero and what happened to her? Here’s what you need to know.

Who was Sabrina Duran Montero?

Montero was a 24-year-old influencer from Chile, in South America. She had more than 610,000 followers on her TikTok account, @katrinagusman, and was known for promoting beauty products. She started the account in 2021 and quickly became a beauty influencer. She was also a mother.

She did, however, also have a criminal past and built part of her reputation around being a “bad girl”. She was arrested in 2022 on charges that she was the leader of a local drug gang and was sentenced to three years for drug trafficking. She then attempted to escape prison by jumping from the third floor with some of her other inmates but they were all captured. At the time of her death she was allegedly serving the remainder of her sentence on supervised release. 

On Monday 23 October, the day before her death, she uploaded a video reviewing items she's received from a brand called DCM cosmetics. You can see that video below:

Montero “had a criminal record, specifically for receiving stolen vehicles and drug trafficking, and had been released from serving a sentence approximately a month ago," police chief Leonel Muñoz said after the attack.

Montero also posted under the name Juakina Gusman, seemingly a reference to notorious Mexican cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman. Another alias used by the TikTok star was "La Ina", and she has also been dubbed "The TikTok Narco Queen", in reference to her role in Chilean drug gangs. 

What happened to Sabrina Duran Montero?

She was reportedly on her way to a nail salon in Santiago, Chile’s capital city, on the morning of Tuesday 24 October when she was fatally shot by a masked assailant. Prior to the shooting, she had been driving her car and was stopped by three men in the Santiago town of Padre Hurtado, local news outlets reported.

No motive for the murder has been given by the Chilean police and an investigation is on-going. It has been reported that the killing was linked to the world of crime, but this has not been confirmed by official sources. Authorities later found Montero’s burning vehicle, which had been taken by her killer, in the nearby town of Quilicura. “We are expanding the field of investigation to see if there are more motivating (factors),” Muñoz told local reporters.

A video of the moment Montero was shot has been circulating around on social media. We are not showing it here as it contains graphic and highly distressing images. The footage of her death was recorded by a bystander and shows Montero lying in the road after being shot. She reportedly suffered at least eight gunshot wounds, and although doctors tried to save her life in hospital she died shortly after the attack. At the time of writing, nobody has been arrested in connection with the murder.

What tributes have been paid to Sabrina Duran Montero?

DCM Cosmetic owner Chanel Morales told LUN newspaper that she looked past Montero's troubled background when they decided to work with her and called her “sweet". “She looked to her because she has many followers,' Morales said. “She attracted a lot of attention on TikTok because she was the Narco Queen, a bad girl, but her appearance and voice demonstrated the opposite. She was very sweet. She liked to support virtual small and medium companies.”

Fans have also left tributes to Montero on her most recent TikTok posts. One said: “Rip she was so young it's so sad”. Another said: “RIP buddy.” Many people also sent their condolences to her family.