Austin Police: Texas A&M student’s death ruled suicide

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police said their investigation into the death of a 19-year-old Texas A&M student in West Campus shows no proof of foul play, and evidence points to suicide.

Brianna Aguilera, 19, was found unresponsive outside the 21 Rio apartments, near 21st and Rio Grande streets, early Saturday morning. Lead Homicide Detective Robert Marshall said, “Aguilera was found on the ground with injuries consistent with a fall from a higher floor.” She was pronounced dead at around 12:56 a.m., according to APD officials.

Police Chief Lisa Davis began the press conference Thursday morning by stating that the department typically does not speak publicly about suicides, but misinformation online prompted the update. “Inaccurate information has circulated and been reported, leading to additional harm of innocent people,” Davis said.

Detective Marshall said surveillance video showed Aguilera arrived at the apartment building just before 11 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, and went to an apartment on the 17 floor. A large group of friends was seen leaving that unit at around 12:30 a.m., leaving Aguilera and three other friends in the unit.

Investigators confirmed Aguilera had attended a tailgate early that Friday. After a few interviews, APD confirmed with friends of Aguilera that she became “highly intoxicated” and was asked to leave. Friends shared she reportedly lost her cell phone and borrowed a friend’s phone to call her out-of-town boyfriend. Witnesses also reported hearing her arguing on the phone at around 12:43 a.m.

APD said Aguilera’s mother called police at approximately 12:50 p.m. Saturday and again at 2 p.m. after locating her daughter’s missing phone. Officers later found the phone in a wooded area near Walnut Creek by 3:30 p.m., along with other belongings. Detective Marshall said APD notified Aguilera’s parents of her death at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Her parents, Manuel Aguilera and Stephanie Rodriguez, have hired Houston attorney Tony Buzbee. He’s also expected to hold a separate news conference Friday afternoon.

“Brianna’s parents firmly believe there is much more information that needs to be discovered regarding their daughter’s death. They feel certain this was not an accident. This was certainly not a suicide. This family deserves straight answers. We hope we can help them get those answers,” Buzbee said in a Facebook post.

In an updated post following APD’s news conference, Buzbee said “pertinent details” would be released during Friday’s conference. Brianna’s parents are also expected to be present and may make statements.

“Brianna Aguilera had her whole life in front of her. The circumstances surrounding her death are very suspicious,” Buzbee said in the post. “The Austin Police Department’s handling of this matter creates more questions than it provides 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.”

A review of Aguilera’s phone by APD revealed a deleted digital suicide note dated Nov. 25, and a friend told investigators she had previously discussed suicidal thoughts, according to investigators.

Marshall said all evidence that has been collected, including witness statements, video, and digital data, indicates the death was not criminal.

A GoFundMe for her has already raised nearly $40,000, as of Thursday morning. The post said she was in town tailgating for the University of Texas versus Texas A&M football game that happened Friday, Nov. 28.

Authorities have revealed a critical piece of evidence in the death of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera, after she fell 17 stories from a high-rise apartment after a tailgate.

Investigators say they have evidence that the college student, 19, wrote a suicide note and had talked about ending her life with friends, including hours before she died, police revealed Thursday.

Aguilera had traveled from College Station, Texas, to the capital city for the November 28 football face-off between the Lone Star state football foes.

In the days since her death, Aguilera’s mother has unleashed a wave of criticism at the Austin Police Department, accusing the cops of not investigating ‘suspicious’ circumstances around her daughter’s death.

Stephanie Rodriguez insists her daughter would never kill herself and someone must have pushed her over the rails.

‘A further review of Brianna’s phone shows a deleted digital suicide note dated Tuesday, November 25 of this year, which was written to specific people in her life,’ Austin Police Detective Robert Marshall stated at a press conference Thursday morning.

‘From the moment this call originated up until now, between all 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.

‘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.’

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Brianna Aguilera, 19, was found dead at 2101 Rio Grande Street around 1am Saturday, hours after a tailgating bash

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Aguilera’s family refused to accept the Austin Police Department’s finding that their daughter’s death is a suicide. In a statement, her parents said ‘As far as we concerned, this is an open investigation’

Investigators shared a timeline of Friday evening into early Saturday morning, which were the hours leading up to Aguilera’s death.

Marshall stated Aguilera was so drunk the night of her death that she had been asked to leave a tailgate at the Austin Rugby Club around 10pm.

‘The only evidence that we have of any kind of physical altercation was Brianna punching one of her friends as they tried to help her out of the party,’ the investigator confirmed.

‘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.’

Surveillance cameras from the 21 Rio Apartments in Austin captured the co-ed arriving at the high-rise with a large group of friends around 11pm.

At 12.14am, Aguilera’s friends made a 911 call, stating that she was missing.

Marshall later explained that since so many of their friends were in town for the game, the people in the apartment assumed Aguilera had gone out with other friends without letting them know.

Most of the people in the apartment left around 12.30am, police shared, however Aguilera and three other women were still there.

Despite losing her phone at the tailgate, Aguilera called her boyfriend – who was not in Austin- around 12.43am, after borrowing a phone from a friend, police added.

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Aguilera was an aspiring lawyer who was studying as an undergrad student at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas

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Police do not consider Aguilera’s death suspicious and it is not being probed as a homicide

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Rodriguez told KSAT she was informed by police that Aguilera plummeted to her death from the 17th floor of an apartment building just west of the University of Texas at Austin

‘Witnesses heard Brianna arguing on the phone with her boyfriend, which was also confirmed later by the boyfriend,’ Marshall said.

The argument happened two minutes before Aguilera’s body was reported having fallen out of 17-story balcony at 12.46am.

Her fall was reported by a resident who heard a ‘thud’ and then saw a woman on the ground, police said.

Police say none of her friends actually saw her plummet to her death.

All of the people in the apartment have been interviewed multiple times and have been cooperative, police said.

‘It is not common for a police department to speak publicly about a death by suicide,’ Police Chief Lisa Davis told reporters.

‘Inaccurate information has circulated and been reported, and that has led to additional harm of innocent people – bullying included – and their families. There have also been statements suggesting that police have failed to do our jobs. Those statements are not accurate.’

Police says they first shared news of Aguilera’s death with her parents on Saturday afternoon.

‘We spoke through Sunday and Monday through the meeting here,’ Marshall said.

‘Since then, I’ve attempted four times to contact her. I wanted to share this information privately. She did not reply to any of my attempts to talk to her until yesterday afternoon when she asked me to contact her lawyer. However, her father, I have been in contact with. He knows all of this information as of yesterday.’

However, her parents are refusing to accept the police’s findings, issuing a defiant response.

‘As far as we concerned, this is an open investigation and will continue to be open until these parents are satisfied that they know what happened to their daughter,’ the family said through their attorney after the police press conference.

The Aguilera family has hired high-profile lawyer Tony Buzbee to help in her death investigation, according to TV station Fox 26.

Buzbee is having his own press conference Friday afternoon in Houston.