Just over a week after the death of August Ames, the porn industry has been rocked by the sudden death of another prominent female performer. The passing of Yurizan Beltran aka Yuri Luv was confirmed by PornStar Premium director of business development, Dan Hogue, in a statement to adult news site Xbiz. Hogue said, “It is with a heavy heart I write this. The entire PornStar Platinum family is in mourning at the news of the loss of one of its family members. Yuri was found today at the age of 31. She was always kind to me and we will miss her.” It’s thought that Beltran died after a drug overdose. She was 31 years old.
This comes eight days after the death of August Ames. Ames was found dead after died by suicide at the age of 23. Her body was found in a public park in Camarillo, California. It had been widely reported that Ames had suffered from severe cyber bullying following her refusal to perform in a scene with a male pornographic actor, Jaxton Wheeler, who also does gay porn.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. ‘Pills’ Were Found By Luv’s Bed
Radar Online reports that Luv was found dead at around 12:30 p.m. on December 13 at her home in Bellflower, California. A coroner’s office spokesperson told Radar that the exact cause of death will not be revealed for up to three months. While the Bellflower Police Department told the gossip site that pills were foudn by Luv’s body.
2. Her MMA Fighter Ex-Boyfriend Said After They Broke Up that Luv ‘Prefers Gay Men & Transexuals’
Luv formerly dated Long Beach-based bodybuilder and MMA fighter Eddie Avakoff. In November 2015, Avakoff wrote a shocking message on a website named Porn Wikileaks about Luv. Avakoff said:
My girlfriend, Yurizan Renteria Beltran who is hooked up with f****t Derek Hays is sucking gay c*** here in Long Beach and within the Industry.
She prefers to f*** gay men and t****** with adam apples and big c****. She is a h*** lover and prefers the gay style of LA and Long beach.
Luv said in an interview with Adult DVD Talk about growing up in Long Beach, “I grew up in Long Beach, California, at the time the city was a mess. I was little but remember the Rodney King Riots and gang violence. If you visit Long Beach now you would have never guessed it was ghetto at one point. The gay community did a great job cleaning downtown up and making it what it is today.” In that same interview, Luv mentioned helping to run Avakoff’s gym, Metroflex, in Long Beach.
This was Luv’s final Instagram message:
3. Luv Was On the Cover of Lowrider Magazine When She Was 18 Years Old While Working at Hooters
Luv told Adult DVD Talk that she was working at a Hooters restaurant when she was 18 and from there went on to shoot the cover of Lowrider magazine. Luv, who is a native of Long Beach, California, studied to become a nurse and worked in the profession for a full year before going into porn, according to a feature Luv did with MG Curves. Luv says in the same interview that her parents are both Mexican and came to Long Beach in the 1970s.
Luv said in a 2008 interview that she would only perform lesbian or solo scenes and would perform with another male actor. She said of her first scene, “No it wasn’t weird I love being naked, I love going to nude beaches , my first shoot was really exciting and I was not nervous at all.”
According to her IMDb page, Luv has 117 adult film credits to her name. Her bio on that site says she has appeared in Penthouse and been nominated for Adult film industry awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
4. Luv Once Made One of Her Male Co-Stars Cry After She Punched Him in His Testicles
Luv was asked in her MG Curves interview about her favorite porn scene. She explained that while appearing on “Bang Bus,” Luv asked her male co-star not to ejaculate in her eye. When he proceeded to do so, Luv says, “So I socked him in the balls and he cried.”
Luv said in the same interview that her elaborate back tattoo “has been a 5 year project about 80 hours by Chuy Ortega Mentally Twisted. We worked together to bring color and crazy into life on my back.”
5. Luv’s Death Is Being Mourned by Some of Porn’s Biggest Names
Some of porn’s biggest names as well as her biggest fans have taken to social media to mourn Luv. Here are some of the most poignant responses: