A social media influencer close to the rapper Tekashi6ix9ine was the woman found dead in her car over the weekend on the Cross County Parkway in Mount Vernon, and police said she was the victim of a homicide, shot multiple times.
Westchester County police on Monday, Aug. 18, identified the woman as 33-year-old Ariela Mejia-Polanco, but she went by Ariela La Langosta on social media.
Hours before she was shot, she was working at Ikon New York, a Manhattan bar and restaurant in Washington Heights, whose owners paid tribute to her on Instagram and have closed in her memory until Thursday.
Ariel Mejia-Polanco, who went by Ariiela La Langosta on social media, was fatally shot in her car Aug. 17, 2025, in the local lanes of the Cross County Parkway approaching Broad Street at Exit 7 in Mount Vernon. This photo taken Aug. 18, 2025.
“Today we lost our shining star @ariiela.lalangosta Our hearts are broken,” the post read. “Your joy, your humility, and the way you treated everyone with so much care always made you stand out. Thank you for giving so much love and support to our home, which also became yours.
“To Ariela’s family, we are here for anything you need. We still can’t believe it… you were our smile, our happiness. We love you and we will miss you forever.”
Patrol officers found Mejia-Polanco in the driver’s seat around 8 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, when they responded to a 911 call reporting a disabled vehicle partly in the shoulder of the eastbound local lanes approaching Broad Street at Exit 7.
Westchester police suspect Ariela La Langosta was targeted
According to a news release by county police on Monday, detectives from the General Investigations Unit suspect that the killing was not a random act and that Mejia-Polanco was targeted.
Her Instagram page has 564,000 followers, and Ikon New York’s post on Sunday night was liked by more than 4,500 people.
She had appeared in videos with Tekashi6ix9ine, the rapper whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, and he posted a series of candid videos with tearful emojis of the two of them dancing, on a roller coaster, riding in a car and partying. He called her ‘Mi Hermana’, my sister in Spanish, and La Reina de NY, the Queen of NY. “NY will never be the same,” he posted.
Police had not released further information regarding when the shooting is likely to have occurred or whether there were any suspects as of Monday afternoon. They said she had addresses in both Rockland and Westchester counties. An internet search suggested she lived in Stony Point but police said she might have also lived in a new apartment building on Broad Street in Mount Vernon, right near where she was found.
A manager at the building, 42 Broad, referred a reporter to a corporate spokesperson, who could not immediately be reached.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Tekashi6ix9ine pal Langosta was woman fatally shot in car in Mt Vernon
