Remley, 45, was pronounced dead the evening of December 18 outside the busy Piazza della Famiglia area of Little Italy. The San Diego County Medical Examiner has ruled her death a suicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head. San Diego Police previously confirmed there was no threat to the public.
New details shed light on Remley’s final hours. According to sources familiar with the incident, Remley had been inside Princess Pub earlier that evening and was acting erratically as a customer. At one point, she allegedly attempted to get behind the bar and was subsequently asked to leave the premises. What happened next unfolded just outside the establishment in a heavily trafficked public space.
Remley’s death marked the end of one of San Diego’s most bizarre and cautionary modern sagas - a story that blended wealth, failed spectacle, criminal conviction, and escalating mental health crises. Remley first became known locally more than a decade ago after co-founding Valitar, a lavish equestrian acrobatics show launched at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 2012. Marketed as a Cirque-du-Soleil-style horse spectacle, the production collapsed after only a handful of performances, leaving trainers, performers, and vendors unpaid and sparking lawsuits that followed the couple for years.
At the time, Remley and her husband, tech and real estate entrepreneur Mark Remley, lived a conspicuously extravagant lifestyle, moving between mansions in California and Hawaii while promoting themselves as elite figures in the global horse world. Court filings later described the couple as worth tens of millions of dollars during their peak. The marriage, however, deteriorated publicly and violently.
In 2023, Remley was arrested after authorities said she attempted to hire a hitman to murder her estranged husband during divorce proceedings. Investigators alleged she solicited help from a mutual acquaintance, triggering a sheriff-led sting operation in which an undercover detective posed as a contract killer. She was arrested after meeting the undercover officer while allegedly armed.
Remley ultimately pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder and firearms charges. Though sentenced to more than three years in state prison, she served roughly one year before being released early.
Following her release, Remley’s behavior grew increasingly erratic. She was arrested again in September 2025 on arson-related charges tied to the Del Mar mansion she once shared with her husband - a case she was scheduled to return to court on in 2026.
During this same period, Remley began posting cryptic social media content referencing suicide, recovery, and redemption. She also claimed to be writing a memoir and filming a documentary project, sharing images of herself smiling alongside a camera crew despite her mounting legal problems.
In interviews published after her death, her estranged husband described years of trying to get her help, saying he feared she posed a danger to herself and others. He also questioned how she was allowed to remain free while facing fresh felony charges.
Witnesses told local media they heard gunfire in the heart of Little Italy, a neighborhood packed with diners and pedestrians at the time. One report stated that Remley fired a shot into the air before turning the weapon on herself, though police have not publicly confirmed that sequence. The location - directly outside a popular bar in a dense entertainment district - amplified the shock of the incident and led to widespread confusion before authorities secured the scene.
For San Diego, Remley’s death closes a chapter that spanned failed grandiosity, criminal conviction, and repeated warnings that went unheeded. What began years ago as a tale of wealth and spectacle ultimately ended in tragedy, unfolding in full public view.
If you or someone you know is struggling, confidential help is available 24/7 through the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
Originally published on December 22, 2025.
