Sergio Jiménez died during a private livestream after allegedly consuming drugs and alcohol as part of an online challenge/ Image: X
Spanish police are investigating the death of a 37-year-old streamer who died during a private New Year’s Eve livestream after allegedly consuming large quantities of alcohol and cocaine on camera in exchange for money. Sergio Jiménez, known online as “Sancho” or “Sssanchopanza”, was found dead at his family home near Barcelona while his webcam was still broadcasting to paying viewers.
What happened during the livestream
According to reporting by El País and El Periódico, Jiménez, who was known on streaming platforms Kick and Twitch, was broadcasting on a private video call on New Year’s Eve, allegedly taking part in extreme online challenges for money. Police believe he drank a full bottle of whisky and snorted approximately six grams of cocaine within a three-hour period. Jiménez was found by his younger brother at the home he shared with their mother in Vilanova i la Geltrú, near Barcelona. He was discovered kneeling beside his bed in what family members described as a “prayer-like” position, while the livestream continued to run.
Sergio Jimenez, 37, allegedly agreed to neck a bottle of whisky and snort six grams of cocaine in just three hoursCredit: Instagram, X
As relatives attempted to help him, voices were reportedly still audible from the computer. According to Jiménez’s family, some viewers who had paid to watch the broadcast asked: “Are you sleeping off a hangover?” “Haven’t you finished off the whisky yet?” An ambulance was later called, but Jiménez is reported to have already been dead.
Family accounts and evidence found
Jiménez’s mother, Teresa, described the night in comments to El Periódico. She said her eldest son Jordi, who lives in the Pyrenees, had warned the family months earlier that Sergio was making dangerous videos. “I got up to go to the bathroom just before 2am and saw the door to his room was ajar,” she said. “I asked him what he was doing but he didn’t answer. I tried to go in, but there were clothes or something on the bedroom floor and I couldn’t.” She added: “I kept asking him from outside but he didn’t answer. I could see him kneeling on the bed, as if he were praying.” Another son, Daniel, told police what he found inside the room: “There was an almost empty bottle of whisky, a couple of cans of energy drinks and a pile of cocaine on a red plate. “My brother was kneeling on the floor, his head resting on the mattress. The computer was on and I could hear voices asking him if he was sleeping off his hangover.” Teresa also told officers that she had earlier asked her son not to drink the alcohol she had seen in his room because he was taking medication, reported to be for psychiatric problems.
Police probe and wider context
The Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, have launched an investigation into Jiménez’s death and ordered an autopsy, according to El País. Police have not ruled out possible criminal behaviour, including “incitement to risky behaviour”. Authorities believe this may be the first death linked to an extreme online challenge in Spain.Jiménez had gained wider attention in October after appearing in videos by Simón Pérez, an online streamer described as an “e-beggar” and known across multiple platforms for broadcasting drug-fuelled performances to live audiences. It has been suggested by Jiménez’s family that he may have been attempting to imitate Pérez’s online behaviour. Reacting to the death, Pérez said in a YouTube video, as cited by PEOPLE:“He’s passed away. I’ve been told he took six grams of cocaine in three hours. He took a two-gram line. That causes an overdose… It could have happened to me but it’s happened to Sergio.” Although the Mossos d’Esquadra have not issued a formal public statement on the case, the force released a video on its social media channels on 6 January warning against taking part in “viral challenges” that could “put your life or your physical integrity in danger”. The case has drawn comparisons to the death of French influencer Raphael Graven, known online as Pormanove or JP. Graven, 46, was found dead in August after ten days of livestreamed violence, sleep deprivation and ingestion of toxic products. Two fellow creators were later seen throwing water on his face in an attempt to revive him after he died in his sleep at a property near Nice. French minister Clara Chappaz described that case as an “absolute horror”, prompting a judicial investigation. An autopsy later found that Graven’s death “was not traumatic in origin and was not linked to the intervention of a third party”, according to the Nice prosecutor’s office. Go to Source
