Tony Parker, Eva Longoria Scandal: Erin Benavides' Friends Doubt Suicide Ruling

Erin Benavides -- the other woman in Tony Parker's explosive alleged affair when he was married to Eva Longoria -- put herself in the crosshairs of shady people ... and her friends don't sound convinced that she died by suicide, as the medical examiner claims.

The Daily Mail spoke to several close friends of the recently deceased Erin ... who say they couldn't believe the news when they heard what the medical examiner said happened.

Erin's friend Andrea Sparks told DM Erin loved her sons so much ... and she doesn't believe she'd leave them behind like she did if she took her own life.

She then said, "I can't imagine her doing this on her own. Some of Erin's cases involved some shady people in cartels and drug traffickers, human traffickers."

Another friend -- Lisa Knapp -- added her own similar thoughts ... "When I saw [self-harm], I just didn't believe it. She was prosecuting very, very bad people. And I will tell you, many people would not have taken that job. That was a scary job."

While neither explicitly came out and said it, the implication is obvious ... Erin was putting away dangerous people -- and there's a possibility one of them got to her.

However, as we've told you, the medical examiner is certain this was a suicide ... ruling her cause of death a self-inflicted gunshot wound -- and revealing she had a BAC of .401 when she died.

Her friends also say the BAC is shocking, too ... because they say Erin rarely, if ever, drank to excess.

A third friend, Lisa Michelle, says she wants to see a very thorough investigation before she's willing to accept the official autopsy.