Opening the door to receive gifts, the 23-year-old Philippine beauty queen was shot dead.

The death of Mary Christine Balagtas is under extensive police investigation. Some believe she was most likely murdered by one of her former lovers.

The Daily Mail has just reported that Miss La Bulakenya Philippines 2009, Mary Christine Balagtas, passed away at her home in Plaridel Township, Bulacan Province, on April 5th. She was shot dead by two men after opening the door to receive flowers and chocolate from them.

According to Plaridel police chief Julio Lizardo, the 23-year-old beauty was shot directly in the head. “She died on the way to the hospital. We found evidence at the scene and believe the two perpetrators fled on a motorcycle,” he said.

Mary (second from the left) was crowned Miss in the 2009 beauty pageant.

The police added that before the incident, neighbors around Mary's house had seen several suspicious individuals.

The motive for the murder is leaning towards revenge following a personal romantic conflict. "We will begin our investigation by targeting those who had romantic relationships with her," the police chief told News Info.

The former beauty queen passed away at the age of 23 after opening the door to receive a gift.

Mary Christine Balagtas is currently a student at Regina Carmeli University. Her friends praise her for being sociable, outgoing, and down-to-earth, despite having won a prestigious beauty pageant.

Currently, family and friends are calling for justice for the deceased. On social media, pages with hashtags demanding justice are being shared continuously.

This is not the first unfortunate incident involving a beauty queen in the Philippines. Francis Dianne Cervantes was lucky to survive a shooting attack.

Miss Earth - Fire Philippines 2006 (in the yellow dress) narrowly escaped death after being shot in 2014.

Miss Earth-Fire Philippines 2006 was shot in 2014 in the town of Paombong while traveling on a motorcycle. Her case remains unsolved, and the perpetrator is still a mystery.

According to Zing