A social media influencer and model has been charged with murder in connection with an ambush-style shooting that killed a Mexican national as he entered the parking garage of an upscale University City apartment complex last year, according to a complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court.
Vanessa Gurrola, 32, was arrested by San Diego police on Oct. 9 and pleaded not guilty last Monday to murder in the death of Christian Espinoza Silver, according to a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office. She is being held in Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee without bail, and her next court appearance is set for next week.
Espinoza, 35, was fatally shot on Feb. 17, 2024, while entering the garage of Palisade UTC at Nobel Drive and Lombard Place in a BMW vehicle. A second passenger, an unidentified 39-year-old man, was wounded in the attack.
Investigators at the time described the shooter as male, saying that a gunman approached the car and opened fire. The shooter, described as wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants and a black backpack, then fled the scene.
Sources said at the time that the shooting was believed to be linked to a remnant cell of the Arellano Félix Organization, one of the drug groups fighting for control of Baja California.
Espinoza, also known as “El Chato,” was believed to be an associate of Edwin Huerta Nuño, also known as “El Flaquito,” who was arrested in Tijuana in June, Mexican officials said.
In August, Huerta Nuño was extradited to San Diego and indicted on federal charges related to the importation and distribution of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, as well as money laundering.
Several Mexican media outlets reported that Gurrola is a former beauty queen from the Mexican state of Sinaloa. An Instagram account with her name has 1.4 million followers.
San Diego police did not answer questions Friday about Gurrola’s arrest. No further information was released about the case.
