A memorial fundraiser for Brianna Aguilera, the 19-year-old Texas A&M University student who died after attending a tailgate in Austin, has more than doubled its original goal. Her family is publicly challenging the police investigation and demanding accountability.
As of Tuesday, the GoFundMe campaign, organised by Aguilera's cousin, Amabelii Fernandez, on behalf of her mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, has raised over £21,000 ($28,000), far exceeding the initial £9,000 ($12,000) target. The funds were set up to help ease the financial burdens during what the family describes as an 'unimaginable loss'.
Disputed Police Narrative and Family Concerns
Aguilera, a native of Laredo studying at Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service, was found unresponsive at 21 Rio Apartments in Austin's West Campus district early on Saturday, 29 November. The Austin Police Department confirmed officers responded around 12:47 a.m. and pronounced her dead at 12:57 a.m.
While the APD stated there were 'no indications of suspicious circumstances' and that the case is not being investigated as a homicide, Aguilera's mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, has publicly rejected that assessment.
'This was not accidental,' Rodriguez wrote in a Facebook post. 'Someone killed my Brie and gave everyone in that group of friends enough time to come up with the same story.'
Rodriguez told KSAT that a detective informed her her daughter had fallen from 17 storeys. She said she was initially told Aguilera 'jumped', but witnesses present at the apartment claimed they did not know her whereabouts.
'There are a lot of inconsistencies with the story,' she said.
Alleged Evidence and Family's Calls for a Full Investigation
According to Rodriguez, around 15 people were inside the apartment at the time of her daughter's death. She alleges a physical altercation took place between Aguilera and another woman that evening.
'There was a fight that happened between my daughter and another girl, and they were all staying in the same apartment that I have actual text messages of,' Rodriguez told KSAT. 'And the detective just disregarded them.'
Aguilera's cousin, Bell Fernandez, shared similar concerns in a statement to the San Antonio Express-News.
'We just want the Austin Police Department to do their due diligence and treat this as an open investigation before reaching any conclusions about her death,' Fernandez said through tears. 'We want a proper investigation done, and we don't want her to be treated as another statistic.'
Fernandez also criticised the investigation as 'one of the worst' she has seen, citing issues with 'lack of professionalism, chain of command, and preservation of a crime scene.'
Delays and Questions Over the Timeline
Rodriguez said she contacted police after Aguilera did not answer her calls following the Texas vs Texas A&M rivalry game on Friday night. She was told she would need to wait 24 hours before filing a missing persons report.
Aguilera's body was found by a passerby around 1 a.m. on Saturday, but Rodriguez was not informed her daughter was in the morgue until 4 p.m. that afternoon.
'My daughter would not jump 17 stories from a building,' Rodriguez said. 'To label this as a suicide is insane. Brianna loved life.'
A Promising Future Cut Short
Aguilera graduated Magna Cum Laude from United High School in Laredo, where she was a dedicated cheerleader. She was studying law at Texas A&M and was just one year away from earning her coveted Aggie Ring—a milestone awarded after completing 90 credit hours.
'Her dream was to always be an Aggie!' the GoFundMe page states.
The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to determine the official cause of death, with a report possibly taking at least 30 days. Texas A&M University declined to comment when approached by local media, stating it 'does not have a statement to share at this time.'
