AUSTIN, Texas – The death of a woman outside a West Campus apartment building over the weekend is not being investigated as a homicide, Austin police said.
Her family has identified her as 19-year-old Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera. She was in Austin for the Texas vs Texas A&M football game on Friday.
What we know:
Austin police say officers responded to a report of an unresponsive individual at 2101 Rio Grande Street, the 21 Rio Apartment, at 12:47 a.m. on Nov. 29.
When they arrived, they found an adult woman not responding. She was pronounced dead at the scene ten minutes later.
APD says that at this time, her death is not being investigated as a homicide and there are “no indications of suspicious circumstances.”
What they’re saying:
APD issued a statement on the case on Tuesday, saying:
“The case involving the death of Brianna Aguilera remains open, active, and under thorough investigation. Multiple detectives continue to interview witnesses, gather evidence, and work carefully through the details of the incident. At this stage in the investigation, the facts obtained do not indicate that this is a homicide. This case continues to be treated strictly as a death investigation, and there is no evidence to suggest or support any suspicious or criminal circumstances surrounding Ms. Aguilera’s passing. The cause of death will be determined by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.Â
“Every loss in our community is taken seriously, and every life is deserving of care, dignity, and a complete investigative process. Austin Police extends our heartfelt condolences to Brianna Aguilera’s family, friends, and all who are grieving her loss. We recognize the deep pain that accompanies the unexpected passing of a loved one, and our thoughts remain with those who are navigating this difficult time. Our detectives remain committed to investigating the full details surrounding the death of Ms. Aguilera.Â
“We will continue to share new details as they become available.”
What’s next:
Her cause of death will be determined by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, says APD.
The investigation is ongoing.
Family identifies woman as Texas A&M student
What they’re saying:
Family members have identified the woman as 19-year-old Brianna Aguilera of Laredo, who was in Austin for the Texas vs. Texas A&M game.Â
Her mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, told FOX 7 Austin’s reporting partner KSAT that Brianna was a sophomore at Texas A&M, majoring in political science. She had always wanted to be an Aggie and had dreams of being a lawyer.Â
“She loved life, she was full of life, she loved school, she was very studious,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just so unbearable and unimaginable what happened to her that night, and I don’t have answers.”
Rodriguez is upset at how APD detectives are handling the case. She believes someone did something to her daughter.Â
“[The detective] is treating this case very poorly. He didn’t investigate the apartment. There was, of course, underage drinking going on, but my daughter would not jump 17 stories from a building. My daughter was afraid of heights.”
Rodriguez had tried to file a missing person’s report the night before, since Brianna’s phone was pinging next to a tailgate party.
“Something was wrong because her phone was even placed on do not disturb, and she never does that. Our rule was, ‘okay, you go out, but you leave your location on, and if I call you, you answer,’ so that off the bat to me, I knew that there was something skeptical going on.”
She says she wasn’t notified of Brianna’s death until 4 p.m., and her friends had left the apartment. She also mentioned some sort of fight with another girl.Â
“There’s a lot of inconsistencies with the story. He told me that they said she jumped. Then he told me that the friends said that they didn’t know her whereabouts,” Rodriguez said.
As Rodriguez mourns the death of her daughter, she wants answers.
“I’m traumatized right now at how they’re treating this. My daughter deserves justice. I want to know what happened,” she said.
UT students react
Local perspective:
“We were actually trying to get into the apartment and the whole street was blocked off,” said Luke Langston, a UT junior who lives at 21 Rio Apartment.
“Were you thinking like, ‘Oh, this is just like normal party stuff?’ Do you hear stuff like that a lot here?” asked FOX 7 Austin’s Katie Pratt.
“I do, but this was like kinda different,” said Dannah Rodriguez, a UT junior who lives at 21 Rio Apartment.
Rodriguez said she heard arguing coming from the apartment, which lines up with what Aguilera’s mother reportedly found on her daughter’s phone, text messages showing that the teen was fighting with one of the girls she was staying with that weekend.Â
“I heard a lot of running, and then we started hearing screaming and stuff. My parents said that it sounded like, you know, something really bad happened and that’s why we were a little suspicious,” Rodriguez said.
FOX 7 asked the people who live there if they think it is possible she fell.
“I don’t think so because it’s pretty protective, you know, like they got the rail covering and everything,” said Langston.
“You need a chair or something to kinda leverage yourself, so that’s why I’m like it’s just really confusing to me,” said Rodriguez.
“My condolences to the family. You know that’s that’s something rough that no parent should really have to go through,” Langston said.
Other UT students shared their reaction Tuesday.
“I heard that she was really young, that’s really, really sad. I didn’t even know it was in this building, so now that I found out I’m more shocked,” Val Mejia said.
“It’s definitely devastating. I think it’s the worst time right now since the holidays are approaching. It must be really tough on [her family],” Julia Resendez said.Â
The Source: Information in this report comes from the Austin Police Department, FOX 7 Austin’s reporting partner KSAT, and interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen
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