Beauty queen charged with ambushing, gunning down Mexican cartel rival in California shootout

Sadly, I think she could have won without blasting her rival.

Beauty queen charged with ambushing, gunning down Mexican cartel rival in California shootout

By Anna Young, NY Post

Published Oct. 21, 2025, 5:46 p.m. ET

A Mexican beauty queen was hit with murder charges two years after a Mexican national was ambushed and gunned down in the parking garage of a swanky California apartment complex, prosecutors said.

Vanessa Gurrola, 32, was cuffed on Oct. 9 and charged in the death of Christian Espinoza Silver, who was shot dead when bullets struck his BMW as he entered the Palisade UTC garage in San Diego on Feb. 17, 2024, according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Post.

A second passenger, an unidentified 39-year-old man, was also struck by gunfire in the sneak attack.

The suspect, decked out in a camouflage jacket, black pants, and a black backpack, walked up to the victims car and unleashed a sudden hail of bullets before vanishing, San Diego police said at the time.

Police said both men suffered multiple gunshot wounds, with Silver found lying in the street, while the other man was discovered near the car at the entrance of the apartment garage.

The slain victim was rushed to a local hospital, where he died. The other victim was in stable condition.

A motive behind the deadly ambush remains unclear.

Sources said the shooting may have stemmed from a turf war between a leftover faction of the Arellano Félix Organization, a drug cartel fighting for control of Baja California, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Espinoza, also known as “El Chato,” was believed to be an associate of Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuno, a Tijuana Plaza boss who was extradited to San Diego on federal charges in

August for allegedly supplying millions in narcotics to cells throughout the Golden State.

Gurrola, a model and social media influencer with 1.4 million followers on Instagram, is a former beauty queen from Sinaloa, Mexico, Mexican outlets reported.

The accused assailant pleaded not guilty to murder during an Oct. 13 arraignment, a spokesperson for San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said.

Gurrola is reportedly being held without bail at Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee.

She is due back in court on Nov. 19.