Woman's disfigured body left on doorstep after 'refusing to leave party with drug dealer'

A young woman was allegedly beaten to death after she refused to leave a party with a drug dealer.

Sther Barroso dos Santos, 22, was attacked in the early hours of the morning on August 17 after attending a "baile funk" party in Brazil to see one of her favourite artists perform.

According to her relatives, Sther refused to leave the event with a known criminal, after which she was allegedly tortured and killed.

The woman's disfigured body was then delivered to her own doorstep by two men acting on orders, according to reports. Sther was taken to a hospital in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro but tragically she was already dead when she arrived.

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Authorities are now investigating whether or not Bruno da Silva Loureiro, known as 'Coronel' (Colonel), ordered the killing. Coronel's previous charges include drug trafficking, robbery, homicide with a firearm, gang membership, possession of restricted weapons, handling stolen goods, car theft and assault.

He is believed to be part of the feared Terceiro Comando Puro (Pure Third Command) gang and is reportedly in charge of the Muqi o favela, where the victim's family used to live.

Sther and her relatives left the favela and moved to Vila Alian with hopes of starting afresh after being robbed. It was a chance for a more promising future for Sther as she worked towards getting her driving licence and prepared to move into a new flat.

Sther's sister said: "My sister dreamed of becoming a mother to a boy, of getting married. And now, what am I supposed to do with my life without her?"

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Sther kept a journal in which she wrote down her goals for the year. Among these targets were finishing driving school, taking three courses, adopting a dog, going to the gym more often, and thanking God every day.

She had also written that she wanted to see her brother released from jail. One entry read: "This is going to be the best year of my life, I just know it!" The case is still under investigation.

It comes after a social media influencer was shot dead during a TikTok livestream in what police are treating as a femicide.

Officers believe Valeria Márquez, 23, was killed because of her gender. she was shot in the chest and in the head in a beauty salon in Zapopan, Mexico, and died instantly.

The young woman appeared to have been speaking to a delivery man off camera during the livestream when she was struck. Ms Márquez, who had nearly 200,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, had said earlier on the livestream that someone came to the salon when she was not there with an “expensive gift” to deliver to her. Ms Márquez, who appeared concerned, said she was not planning to wait for the person to come back.

Just a few hours after her shooting, a former congressman with the Mexican PRI party Luis Armando Córdova Díaz, was also gunned dead in a café in the area. It is unclear if prosecutors in Jalisco - the wider region - are treating her death as a potential femicide but this type of murder is relatively common across Mexico.

The country is tied with Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia as the countries with the fourth-highest rates of femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the latest data. The Jalisco region, part of central Mexico, is ranked sixth out of Mexico’s 32 states, including Mexico City, for homicides.

Rival cartels have fought bloody wars for territorial control in much of Mexico for several years. It is not confirmed if Ms Márquez was caught up in such conflict.