AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) – The Austin Police Department revealed new information surrounding the death of a Texas A&M sophomore after she attended a tailgate ahead of the Lone Star Showdown football game.

In a press conference on Thursday morning, police revealed evidence that 19-year-old Brianna Aguilera took her own life.

“It is not common for a Police Department to speak publicly about a death by suicide. But inaccurate information has circulated and been reported,” said Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis. “And that has led to additional harm of innocent people, bullying included, and their families. There have also been statements suggesting the police have failed to do our jobs. Those statements are not accurate.”

The Austin Police Department released the following timeline on Thursday morning.

Friday, Nov. 28

11 p.m. – Surveillance video showed Aguilera arriving at the apartment complex after attending a tailgate. Aguilera had been asked to leave the tailgate due to intoxication. Witnesses said that Brianna told them she had lost her phone at the tailgate.

Saturday, Nov. 29

12:30 a.m. – Further investigation into the surveillance video also showed that a large group left the apartment, but Aguilera remained inside with three other girls.
12:43 a.m. to 12:44 a.m. – Phone records show Aguilera borrowed a friend’s phone and had a call with an out-of-town boyfriend. Witnesses say Brianna and her boyfriend had a fight. The boyfriend confirmed the fight happened with Austin police.
12:46 a.m. – Officials said they responded to a 911 call at an apartment complex on 2101 Rio Grande St., where they found Aguilera.
12:56 a.m. – Crime scene specialists arrive on scene and pronounce Aguilera dead
10:00 a.m. – Officials locate surveillance video of Aguilera arriving at the complex.
12:50 p.m. – Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, called 911 to report her daughter was missing.
12:14 p.m. – Aguilera’s friends call 911 to report her missing
12:54 p.m. – Police contacted the group who were inside the apartment but had left earlier in the evening. Police also contacted the three girls left behind with Aguilera and confirmed they had placed a 911 call earlier that day.
2:00 p.m. – Aguilera’s mother calls 911 again and shares the location of Aguilera’s phone.
3:00 p.m. – Police find Aguilera’s phone near Walnut Creek in a field by the Austin Rugby Club.

Monday, Dec. 1

Austin Police meet with Stephanie Rodriguez, Brianna’s mother.

Tuesday, Dec. 2

Investigators find a deleted suicide note on Aguilera’s phone, written on Nov. 25, to specific people in her life. There were also text messages sent to a friend on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 29, that reveal suicidal ideation. Officials also revealed that Brianna had made suicidal comments to friends in October of this year.

During the press conference, police said they spoke to the residents of the apartment where Brianna died on Saturday afternoon.

“The residents informed me that they were trying to report that their friend Brianna was missing,” said Homicide Detective Robert Marshall. “I was able later to confirm they had in fact placed a 911 call at 12:14 PM earlier that afternoon.”

One aspect of the case that has raised many questions is why Brianna’s phone was found near a creek. Police say multiple interviews stated she had dropped her phone after being asked to leave a tailgate.

“The phone was located by Austin police officers in a wooded area [Saturday] afternoon near Walnut Creek in a field by the Austin Rugby Club. Witnesses stated that after Brianna was asked to leave the tailgate, she had repeatedly dropped her phone and staggered into a nearby wooded area, where her phone and other items were later located by Austin police,” Detective Marshall said.

Officials say the only sign of a physical altercation was Brianna punching one of her friends as they tried to help her out of the tailgate.

“Between all of the witness statements, all of the video evidence and all of the digital evidence collected, at no time did any evidence point to this being anything of a criminal nature,” explained Detective Marshall. “Rather, our investigation has revealed that, unfortunately, Brianna had made suicidal comments previously to friends back in October of this year. This continued through the evening of her death with some self-harming actions earlier in the evening and a text message to another friend indicating the thought of suicide.”

Yesterday, Rodriguez’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee of The Buzbee Law Firm, put out a statement that Brianna’s parents, their law office and Gamez Law Firm would be holding a press conference on the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 5. The statement went on to explain that Brianna’s parents did not believe her death was an accident.

“Brianna Aguilera had her whole life in front of her. The circumstances surrounding her death are very suspicious. The Austin Police Department’s handling of this matter has created more questions than they have answers. As far as we are concerned, this is an open investigation and will continue to be open until these parents are satisfied they know what happened to their daughter.”

The Austin Police Department responded to the concern at the news conference on Thursday morning.

“I was in contact with Brianna’s mother beginning Saturday afternoon. We spoke through Sunday and Monday through the meeting here,” Detective Marshall said. “Since then, I’ve attempted four times to contact her. I wanted to share this information privately. She did not reply to my attempts to talk to her until yesterday afternoon, when she asked me to talk to her lawyer.”

Austin PD debunk rumored homicide investigation into Brianna Aguilera’s death

The rumored investigation switch up originated from a fraudulent news site.

Brianna Aguilera, a Laredo native and Texas A&M University student, died in Austin on Saturday, November 29 following a Texas A&M versus University of Texas at Austin tailgate.

Courtesy GoFundMe

The Austin Police Department is debunking rumors circulating about an alleged update into the investigation of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera’s death in Austin late last month.

A fraudulent website posted a fake article alleging police had reclassified Aguilera’s death investigation as a homicide case, falsely claiming a male suspect named Jake Harlan had been identified as a person of interest. On Tuesday, December 9, Google Trends within the Austin area showed breakout search levels for Harlan in relation to Aguilera, with the fake article claiming he was a student athlete on the University of Texas at Austin’s lacrosse team.

A review of the UT men’s lacrosse roster reveals no one named Harlan is a member of the team, and a spokesperson for APD denied all speculation that the death investigation had been update to a homicide.

“This remains an active death investigation and is not being investigated as a homicide,” a spokesperson said in an email to MySA. “The investigation into the death of Brianna Aguilera is still ongoing and we will not be providing any further information at this time.”

Aguilera, a 19-year-old Texas A&M student, was visiting friends in Austin on November 28 for the Texas A&M vs. Texas football rivalry game. Hours after attending a UT tailgate, Aguilera was found dead outside the 21 Rio Apartments student housing complex in Austin’s West Campus neighborhood.

Police have consistently said the case isn’t being investigated as a homicide, with detectives giving an alleged cause of death as suicide due to evidence found on Aguilera’s phone and information gathered during the investigation. That presumed cause of death awaits an official cause and manner determination from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, who is overseeing Aguilera’s autopsy and related toxicology reports. Aguilera’s loved ones have repeatedly pushed back against APD’s alleged cause of death for Aguilera, with her mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, telling MySA her daughter wasn’t suicidal. Rodriguez and Aguilera’s father, Manuel Aguilera, retained Houston attorney Tony Buzbee to represent the family and their daughter’s death investigation, with Buzbee denouncing APD’s investigation and calling upon the Texas Rangers to take over the case.