Areline Martinez: Woman, 20, accidentally shot dead by friends while filming fake kidnapping video for TikTok
A young mother lost her life while filming a TikTok video for her followers. Areline Martinez faked her own kidnapping for the video but her friends who were also reportedly part of the fake abduction accidentally shot her dead.
The Sun reported that the incident took place in Chihuahua, Mexico, on October 2, after the 20-year-old victim was blindfolded and her hands were tied. Her last social media post on the fateful day was: “Time does not stop and neither do I." The TikTok video showed Martinez sitting next to a young man who was in the character of a hostage when another man appeared to attack both of them.
The clip also showed a third person who was seen waving an automatic weapon. Then a young man was seen forcing the man who played hostage onto his knees as he pointed the gun at the back of his head. Soon after that Martinez was fatally shot.
However, it was not immediately clear how the gun went off, why the people involved were using a weapon with live ammunition and if it was licensed or not. Local Mexican media has reported that the firing was not intentional and it went off "by mistake".
Cesar Augusto Peniche Espejel, Chihuahua state attorney general, said: "One of the hypotheses we are looking at is that they [the youths] were tampering with a firearm thinking that it was not loaded and accidentally shot the woman." Reports stated that after the incident, the woman's friends left the scene while Martinez's body remained there on the ground with her hands tied up.
It has been said that a total of 10 youth were at the scene and one of them later informed police about the fatal shooting. The case is now under investigation and reports also mentioned that two suspects have been identified, but it was not clear if they were arrested or not. A funeral for Martinez was held on Monday, October 5.
This tragic incident comes months after a TikTok star Ronnie McNutt took his life while live-streaming it on Facebook. The devastating episode reportedly happened at McNutt's house in Mississippi on August 31 while he sat in front of a desk. The clip soon went viral leaving social media users and his family traumatized. It appeared on TikTok's 'For You' trending homepage and reportedly a number of social media users watched the clip unintentionally as it showed a bearded man with glasses speaking to someone on the phone.
Celebration Church Tupelo of which McNutt was a member confirmed his death in a Facebook post on September 1. The post read: "In the midst of a sudden tragedy that occurred last night, we grieve with the McNutt Family during this time because the passing of our brother in Christ, Ronnie McNutt."
"Ronnie will be missed by all who loved and knew him. He was very caring, committed, loyal, dependable, and eccentric. He served his church faithfully and was loved by many. Although events surrounding his death were tragic, we take comfort in our Creator, believing that because of Ronnie's confession and conversion as a believer in Christ Jesus, he is currently before our loving Father," the post added.