A TikTok led cops to a suspect in California woman’s murder. He was just found guilty

A viral TikTok led to the arrest and conviction of a man in the death of a 19-year-old California woman, according to local media reports.

Victor Sosa, a 25-year-old man from Compton, California, was found guilty of murder in the death of Daisy De La O, who was killed outside her family’s apartment in Compton on Feb. 22, 2021, ABC 7 reported.

De La O was in her second year at East Los Angeles College and was saving up to buy a car. She had aspirations of opening up her own beauty shop one day, and of becoming a tattoo-and-makeup artist, her mother, Susana Salas, told The Cut.

She had also recently broken up with Sosa, her ex-boyfriend, Salas told ABC 7.

De La O met Sosa when she was 15, and the two were in an on-and-off relationship for several years, Salas told The Los Angeles Times. Their relationship had grown strained toward the end as De La O had become more independent after enrolling in community college and getting a job, which showed her “a life other than him,” Salas told the outlet.

On the night of De La O’s death, Sosa texted her and asked her to meet him outside her family’s Compton apartment, ABC 7 reported.

Salas said that her daughter promised she would return soon.

“‘I won’t take long, I promise.’ Those were the last words my baby girl told me,” Salas told ABC 7. “She never came back.”

The next day, her body was found by the apartment manager. She was badly beaten and had been stabbed to death, KCRW reported.

De La O’s murder went unsolved for months, leading her friends to turn to TikTok for help. On May 26, 2021, Rebecca Fuentes uploaded a video with pictures of Sosa and De La O. The video pleaded with viewers to let police know if they had any information about Sosa.

The video had over 61,000 views as of May 4, 2022 and started an online effort to locate Sosa, with social media users using the hashtag #JusticeforDaisy, KTLA reported.

On July 2, 2021, Sosa was arrested after being spotted in a bar and nightclub in Rosarito, Mexico, about 15 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Detective Ray Lugo of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told the Times that he received a tip about Sosa from someone who recognized him from social media.

“I believe he would still be out here if we didn’t make that video,” Fuentes told The Cut.

Sosa’s trial began on April 18, and he was convicted of first-degree murder on May 4. He’ll appear in court again at a later date for his sentencing, KTLA reported.

Salas told The Cut that she had feared no one would take her daughter’s death seriously, especially because she was a Mexican American woman.

“Thank God for social media, honestly,” Salas told the outlet.

This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 12:41 PM with the headline "A TikTok led cops to a suspect in California woman’s murder. He was just found guilty."