Influencer Fedra Gaxiola shot dead outside Tijuana gym in targeted daylight attack

Influencer and Instagram model Fedra Gaxiola was shot dead outside a Tijuana gym in a targeted daylight attack.

Popular influencer and model Fedra Gaxiola, whose full name was Fedra Oded Gaxiola Orozco, was tragically shot and killed in broad daylight on Thursday, November 5, 2024. The incident occurred outside Hardcore Fitness Gym in the López Lucio neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico, according to National World, citing local authorities.  

National World reported that the shooting happened at approximately 8:35 A.M. The assailant fired through the open windows of Gaxiola's black Mercedes Benz before fleeing the scene. Emergency responders transported Orozco to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds.  

Witnesses informed police that the perpetrator fled in a grey Chevrolet HHR. As reported by Dexerto, several eyewitnesses suggested more than one individual might have been involved. However, homicide prosecutor Miguel Ángel Gaxiola Rodríguez told the publication that their investigation points to a single person deliberately targeting Fedra Gaxiola.  

Fedra Gaxiola was an emerging influencer and model who regularly posted about her personal life and collaborations with various sportswear and beauty brands. Her Instagram biography reads, "Fitness Girl." In November, she last modeled for a Tijuana-based clothing brand called 'Fleur Sport Clothing.'  

She had gained over 225,000 followers on TikTok and more than 140,000 on Instagram. Since her murder, both accounts have been restricted to followers only.  

This was not the first time Gaxiola was targeted in a shooting. She was originally from Sinaloa, a state in northwestern Mexico with a significant cartel presence. Reports from O Globo 100 and Metropoles indicate that in 2011, she survived a shooting in the Hipódromo neighborhood while in a BMW. Her then-boyfriend, who was also in the car, did not survive the attack.  

According to the same publications, in August 2024, Gaxiola posted on social media claiming she was a victim of domestic violence. The 24-year-old stated that her ex-boyfriend, former Tijuana Municipal Police Director Héctor Villegas, had physically assaulted her.  

O Globo 100 further reported that just days before her murder, Orozco shared an Instagram story where she alleged that an armed man, whom she identified as Villegas' bodyguard, had approached her.