Stop recording! The smile that stunned everyone… Just hours after Caroline “Caro” Peña, a 32-year-old mother of five, was fatally stabbed in broad daylight, newly surfaced footage captured 19-year-old Amaya “Cookie” Diaz being led away in handcuffs
Stop recording! The smile that stunned everyone…
Just hours after Caroline “Caro” Peña, a 32-year-old mother of five, was fatally stabbed in broad daylight, newly surfaced footage captured 19-year-old Amaya “Cookie” Diaz being led away in handcuffs.
Instead of looking shaken, she appeared to play to the camera—flashing a wide grin, showing off bright white teeth, giggling, and sarcastically shouting, “Stop recording!” to the man filming.
The disturbing behavior has become one of the most talked-about moments in the case, as investigators continue uncovering what allegedly led to the deadly attack and whether even more evidence is still to come
A GRISLY BROAD-DAYLIGHT SLAYING IN A BORDER COMMUNITY
The quiet border city of Del Rio, Texas—home to roughly 35,000 residents—has become the epicenter of national outrage following the brutal street murder of thirty-two-year-old Caroline “Caro” Peña. The mother of five was cornered and repeatedly stabbed on Thursday afternoon outside a local Sonic drive-through, an intersection heavily traveled by local traffic. Bystander footage that briefly circulated online showed a bloodied Peña bravely facing down her three attackers moments before she collapsed.
Peña was rushed to a local medical center before being airlifted to a specialized trauma unit in San Antonio, where she tragically succumbed to her injuries at approximately 9:00 PM that evening. Following a rapid review of surveillance footage and eyewitness statements, the Del Rio Police Department launched a fast-tracked homicide investigation, tracing the primary suspects back to a local residential property within a matter of hours.
CHILLING SMILES FOR THE CAMERA DURING POLICE CAPTURE
What has transformed a local tragedy into a viral headline is the shocking, highly erratic behavior displayed by the primary suspects during their formal arrest. Around 4:00 PM on Thursday, less than two hours after the stabbing took place, police units swarmed the residence of nineteen-year-old Amaya “Cookie” Diaz and her twenty-one-year-old sister, Kitty Mia Diaz.
As the two women were led out of the home in handcuffs, independent local journalist Michael Elizondo happened to be in the area and began recording the unfolding scene. The footage he captured documents an astonishing lack of remorse from the teenage siblings:
Kitty Mia Diaz (21): Escorted to a patrol unit barefoot and clad in minimal clothing—including a distinctive halter top featuring an illustration of white hands cupping her breasts—the twenty-one-year-old mother looked down at the ground and flashed a brief, unbothered grin as officers secured her.
Amaya “Cookie” Diaz (19): The younger sibling appeared to actively put on a theatrical display for the lenses. After sarcastically yelling, “Stop recording!” at the media, she brazenly flashed a wide smile and began giggling before stepping inside the police cruiser.
“GOOFING OFF LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED”
The defiance escalated further once the suspects were secured inside the rear compartment of the law enforcement vehicles. Elizondo, who rushed to the neighborhood after a tip-off about heavy police activity, recalled his absolute shock as he observed the behavior of the younger sister through the vehicle’s glass.
“I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew it must be serious based on the at least five police cars parked outside,” Elizondo stated during an interview with The Post. “I saw the first girl going into the car… But the second one caught my eye. That girl was in a happy mood. She was all smiling, goofing off like nothing happened.”
Moments after the doors were shut, the rear window of the cruiser was rolled down from the inside. According to Elizondo, Amaya Diaz immediately leaned out into the open frame, sticking her face out, sticking her tongue out, and actively mocking the gathered onlookers.
A parallel account from a neighboring resident added to the timeline of erratic behavior, with witnesses reporting they had seen the sisters driving recklessly down the residential roads earlier that afternoon, shortly before the fatal confrontation occurred on East 10th Street.
THE ROAD TO PROSECUTION AMID SHATTERED LIVES
Alongside the Diaz sisters, police units arrested a third co-defendant, twenty-one-year-old Kyandra Renee Faz, charging all three women with first-degree murder. The suspects were processed at the Del Rio Police Department before being booked into the regional correctional facility under a massive five-million-dollar bond apiece. While court documents hint at a pre-existing personal dispute that culminated in Peña driving to the vicinity to engage Faz, authorities have not officially confirmed a definitive motive for the lethal escalation.
The absolute detachment shown by the suspects stands in devastating contrast to the realities of the families left behind. In a cruel twist of generational irony, the investigation into the suspects’ background revealed that Kitty Diaz is the mother of a young son who turns four years old this month, according to her personal TikTok updates.
As the three young women await grand jury indictments inside their jail cells, five children in Del Rio—the oldest of whom is a seventeen-year-old high school senior—are facing a future entirely devoid of their mother. The contrast between the grieving household and the image of the two sisters laughing, smiling, and sticking their tongues out in the back of a police car remains a heavy source of trauma and anger for the entire South Texas community.
