San Diego, California – A Mexican beauty queen and social media influencer has been charged with murder in San Diego after authorities say she helped orchestrate a cartel-connected killing in the parking garage of a luxury apartment complex earlier this year.
Lydia Vanessa Gerola Pereira — known online as Vanessa Gerola — was arrested Oct. 9 and charged in connection with the February shooting death of 30-year-old Christian Espinosa Silva at the Palisade UTC Apartments in University City. Gerola Pereira, 32, is being held without bail at the Las Colinas Detention and Re-Entry Facility in Santee. She pleaded not guilty during her Oct. 13 arraignment and is due back in court Nov. 19.
Investigators say Espinosa was shot multiple times around 10 p.m. on Feb. 17 while pulling his BMW into the parking structure of the upscale complex. A second man in the car survived after being struck by gunfire. Witnesses told police the gunman was dressed in camouflage and black clothing and fled the scene immediately after the shooting…