The death of a Texas A&M student whose body was found outside a high-rise apartment complex in Austin over the weekend has been ruled a suicide, police confirmed Thursday.
Brianna Aguilera, 19, was found in the early morning hours of Saturday, with trauma consistent with a fall from a higher floor, Austin police said a press conference, noting a suicide note found on her phone and previous comments about self-harm.
Austin officers responded to 21 Rio, a student apartment complex near the University of Texas at Austin, shortly before 1 a.m. and found a female victim, later identified as Aguilera, on the ground.
According to her family, the Bush School of Government and Public Service student had just attended a tailgate party for the Texas A&M vs. UT football game with friends.
On Thursday, Austin Police Department investigators said that after interviewing dozens of people, reviewing evidence and using “every available resource,” they found no evidence of foul play.
“Rather, our investigation revealed that, unfortunately, Brianna had made suicidal comments previously to friends back in October of this year,” said Det. Robert Marshall, a lead homicide investigator for the APD.
Authorities also uncovered a deleted suicide note on her phone, dated Nov. 25, which was “written to specific people in her life.”
Aguilera’s suicidal comments “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,” Marshall said.
According to investigators, Aguilera had become intoxicated at the tailgate party “to a point that she was asked to leave.” Witnesses later heard Aguilera arguing on the phone with her boyfriend, according to Marshall, who said the call occurred about two minutes before the 911 call reporting a body on the ground.
“In every investigation, we have to rely on the evidence, and all evidence in this case is indicative of suicide,” added Sgt. Nathan Sexton.
The Austin police press conference was held a day after prominent Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee announced his firm had been hired by Aguilera’s parent to investigate her cause of death.
“This is an unimaginable and very suspicious tragedy,” he said in a statement. “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.”
Buzbee has scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon.
