Questions Surround Texas A&M Student’s Death: Family Pushes for Fresh Investigation

The family of Brianna Aguilera, a 19-year-old Texas A&M student who died after falling from a 17th-floor apartment near the University of Texas campus, is pursuing a second, independent autopsy to seek answers, according to PEOPLE. 

Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, said the family will wait until the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office completes its own investigation, which is expected to determine the official cause of death, which could take 60 to 90 days.

Austin police have stated that Aguilera died by suicide after becoming intoxicated at a Texas A&M-versus-Texas tailgate and arguing with her boyfriend over the phone the night before her fall. Investigators also cited a deleted suicide note found on her phone.

Rodriguez has publicly disputed the suicide claims. “My daughter was not suicidal. I know something happened to my daughter and I know someone out there knows something, and I’m not going to stop until I find it,” she told PEOPLE.

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, representing the family, has raised questions about the official investigation, noting the physical difficulty Aguilera would have had in climbing a 44-inch balcony railing at 5 feet, 2 inches tall. He also said witnesses who reported arguments at the apartment were not interviewed, and described the alleged suicide note as merely an “essay.”

Buzbee criticized Austin police for labeling the death a suicide before a formal autopsy, and said he plans to request an independent Texas Rangers’ investigation if the case is not reopened. His firm has prepared 30 to 40 pages of evidence for submission.

Amid circulating false reports about a homicide suspect, the Austin Police Department emphasized that Aguilera’s death “remains an active death investigation and is not being investigated as a homicide,” according to the San Antonio Express-News.