A notorious cartel assassin is dead following a shoot out with police, New York Post reports. 21-year-old Maria Guadalupe Lopez Esquivel, also known as La Catrina, was shot in the neck on Friday after Mexico’s army, National Guard and Michoacán state police raided a safe house where she along with other members fo the Jalisco New Generation Cartel stayed at.
Footage of her murder emerged this week after she was shot. She's seen gasping for air while she's covered in blood as a police officer tries to assure her that she'll survive. "Calm down, kid. The helicopter is coming for you,” the officer said in the footage. “It is coming now, easy, easy, you are going to be OK. Try to hang on.” La Catrina died minutes after the helicopter took off.
La Catrina was known as a high ranking assassin for the cartel who has also been described as an Instagram model that flaunted weapons on social media, along with her good looks. Police said that she was responsible for bringing a team of hitmen from the New Generation Cartel to murder over a dozen police officers in October.
At the time of her death, police claim that she was responsible for paying off cartel members and organizing murders. They also accused her of extortion and kidnapping after joining the cartel in 2017.