More than a month after a Texas A&M student plunged to her death from a 17-story balcony, her family presented new evidence that could blow open the police’s claim she died by suicide.
Brianna Aguilera, a 19-year-old sophomore, plunged from an apartment building in the state capital on November 28 after attending the annual rivalry football game between Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin.
Investigators later concluded that Aguilera took her own life, revealing in December that they had found what they described as a suicide note on her phone.
But at a press conference in Houston on Tuesday, the teenager’s family – represented by attorney Tony Buzbee – introduced a neighbor who says she heard disturbing sounds from Aguilera’s apartment in the moments before the fatal fall.
Dannah Rodriguez, who lives at the collegiate apartment complex 21 Rio where Aguilera was staying while visiting Austin, said she heard yelling and what appeared to be a heated argument involving multiple people.
‘I began hearing a girl arguing with other people,’ Rodriguez recalled. ‘It sounded like it was multiple people in the apartment pacing back and forth so it was hard to recall what was said in the argument.’
The Austin Police Department believes Aguilar killed herself, revealing in December that investigators found a suicide note on her phone.
Rodriguez said the confrontation escalated to the point that her mother, who was visiting at the time, considered crossing the hallway to intervene — moments before Aguilera plunged from the balcony.
The family of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera insist her death at a college tailgate was not a suicide as the Austin Police Department claims
21 Rio resident Dannah Rodriguez lives directly across the hallway from the apartment where Brianna Aguilera was staying the night she fell from a 17-floor balcony to her death
Austin Police revealed in December that Brianna had a deleted suicide note on her phone from earlier in the week, along with suicidal texts she sent to friends the night she jumped
They heard loud screaming and then eventually the noise died down.
Rodriquez told reporters she has lived across the hall from ‘Natalie’ for nearly a year and could hear everything that went on in Natalie’s apartment through the ‘paper thin’ walls.
Natalie, whose last name was not revealed, is a friend of Aguilar’s who hosted her that weekend and often threw parties after Texas football games.
‘My understanding is that Natalie immediately vacated her apartment after Brianna died, and over the Christmas break, my parents and I saw through the peephole…her parents were grabbing things from the apartment, vacating out.’
Rodriquez claims the Austin Police Department has not met with her to get her statements about what led up to Aguilar’s death.
Local police claim everyone who was in the apartment on the night Aguilar died has cooperated with them and they have no evidence that anyone pushed her, the lead investigator told reporters last month.
‘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 on Dec. 4.
‘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.
Brianna Aguilera, 19, was found dead at 2101 Rio Grande Street around 1am Saturday, hours after tailgating
In a combative press conference Friday afternoon, Aguilera’s family and lawyer demanded police wait until her autopsy is completed before determining her death was a suicide
‘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.’
Through their attorney, Aguilar’s family accuses the police department of being ‘lazy’ and ‘incompetent.’
Tuesday, Buzbee revealed they family has filed a lawsuit against a club affiliated with UT-Austin and a local rugby club as defendant, where the lawyer says she was over-served and underage drinking.
Aguilar had been partying there in the hours leading to her death.
Buzbee claimed he would independently continue to investigate Aguilar’s death by subpoenaing those involved even though the Austin Police Department has told witnesses not to talk to him.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.