AUSTIN, Texas – On Nov. 29, a Texas A&M University student from Laredo fell to her death from a student apartment building near the University of Texas at Austin.
Brianna Aguilera, 19, was found unresponsive early Saturday morning outside an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Rio Grande Street, in the heart of the student living area for UT students.
Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, spoke to KSAT about her grievances with the Austin Police Department’s (APD) response and investigation into her daughter’s death.
On Thursday, APD held a press conference where the department shared new details from the night of Aguilera’s death.
Through their investigation, APD said they discovered a deleted digital suicide note on Aguilera’s phone, and she displayed “self-harming actions” that evening.
According to social media posts, Rodriguez maintains that her daughter did not die by suicide.
Here’s what we know about Aguilera’s death, according to our sources, her family and law enforcement:
Thursday, Nov. 27
Aguilera had spent Thanksgiving Day in Laredo with her family, Rodriguez told KGNS in Laredo.
Aguilera had graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from United High School in Laredo and was attending the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M. She had a goal of becoming a lawyer, Rodriguez said.
Friday, Nov. 28
Aguilera visited Austin for the football game between the Longhorns and Aggies. Rodriguez said that Aguilera did not attend the game in person at the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium but intended to attend a tailgate event, according to Rodriguez.
4-5 p.m.: APD said that Aguilera arrived at the Austin Rugby Club, located at 6013 Loyola Lane, for a tailgate event sometime between 4 and 5 p.m.
6 p.m.: Rodriguez told KGNS that communication with her daughter ended at around this time. Rodriguez told KSAT that Aguilera’s phone had been placed on “Do Not Disturb” mode and she stopped receiving text messages from her daughter.
6:30 p.m.: Kickoff for the Longhorns and Aggies football game began.
10 p.m.: Witnesses told APD that Aguilera was asked to leave the tailgate event at around this time. The witnesses told officers that she had “repeatedly dropped her phone and staggered into a nearby wooded area,” APD said.
According to KGNS, Rodriguez contacted the Austin Police Department (APD) after her daughter’s phone location began pinging near a creek and she was still unable to reach her.
Police told her that a missing persons report could not be filed within the first 24 hours of her disappearance. Because Aguilera did not meet the criteria of a missing person, a report was not generated, police told KSAT.
Just after 11 p.m.: According to APD, surveillance footage showed that Aguilera entered the 21 Rio Apartment complex and a unit on the 17th floor.
The student housing complex is located a handful of blocks away from UT’s campus.
Saturday, Nov. 29
12:30 a.m.: The apartment’s surveillance footage showed that a group of people left the apartment unit, APD said. The department said that Aguilera and three other women remained in the apartment.
12:43-12:44 a.m.: APD confirmed through phone records that Aguilera called her out-of-town boyfriend from a phone she borrowed from a friend. Witnesses told officers that Aguilera argued with her boyfriend on the call. The boyfriend later confirmed the call with APD.
12:46 a.m.: APD received a call for the discovery of a body found by a passerby.
12: 56 a.m.: Aguilera was pronounced dead at 12:56 a.m. APD said they interviewed witnesses at the scene.
6 a.m.: APD said they contacted 21 Rio Apartments staff.
10 a.m.: APD accessed the apartment’s camera system, where they observed Aguilera’s entrance to the apartment.
12:14 p.m.: Residents of the apartment who were with Aguilera placed a 911 call to report her as missing.
12:50 p.m.: APD said that Rodriguez called the department in an attempt to locate her daughter.
12:54 p.m.: APD said they contacted residents of the apartment unit who told police they were trying to report Aguilera as missing. They told officers that Aguilera was supposed to stay at the apartment with friends overnight.
Rodriguez had said there were approximately 15 people in the apartment at the time of her daughter’s death.
APD said they had no evidence to suggest that anybody saw Aguilera fall over the balcony.
2 p.m.: Rodriguez informed police about the location of Aguilera’s phone, APD said.
3:30 p.m.: Through Rodriguez’s information, APD located Aguilera’s phone in a wooded area near Walnut Creek by the Austin Rugby Club.
4 p.m.: APD said that officers who discovered Aguilera’s phone contacted the department and discovered that there was a “separate deceased person call with the same name.”
Shortly before 5 p.m.: Nearly 15 hours after Aguilera’s death, Rodriguez was notified of her daughter’s death. At this time, Aguilera’s body had already been taken to a morgue.
Monday, Dec. 1
Rodriguez and Aguilera’s father met with APD and provided the department with Aguilera’s phone, which had been recovered.
APD said said Aguilera’s death was not being investigated as a homicide. Rodriguez said investigators did not give her straight answers.
“There are a lot of inconsistencies with the story,” Rodriguez told KSAT on Monday. She said investigators told her that Aguilera had jumped from the building, but her friends at the apartment also claimed not to know of her whereabouts.
Rodriguez said she also told investigators about a fight that allegedly ensued between her daughter and another woman at the apartment that night.
“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, and the detective just disregarded them,” Rodriguez told KSAT.
KSAT reached out to Texas A&M University for a comment on Monday afternoon. A school spokesperson said the university “does not have a statement to share at this time.”
Tuesday, Dec. 2
KSAT reached out to APD for details on the investigation and to follow up on Rodriguez’s remaining questions.
APD said that they will continue to interview witnesses and that the case remains an ongoing death investigation. They said the cause of death has not been ruled and will be determined at a later date by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.
When asked about the text messages Rodriguez provided, APD said the messages had been received and were now part of the investigation.
Austin police told KSAT that “Aguilera did not meet the criteria of a missing person,” and a report was not generated.
Wednesday, Dec. 3
Aguilera’s parents, Manuel Aguilera and Rodriguez, retained the San Antonio-based Gamez Law Firm and the Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm “to assist them in determining what happened to their daughter,” attorney Tony Buzbee said in a Facebook post Wednesday.
Thursday, Dec. 4
APD held a press conference where they provided details of their investigation and Aguilera’s whereabouts the night of her death.
APD said that a further review of Aguilera’s phone revealed a deleted “digital suicide note” dated Tuesday, Nov. 25. The department said the note was written towards specific people in her life.
APD said their investigation also revealed that Aguilera had made suicidal comments to friends in October. The department did not share what the comments said.
Police said that on the night of her death, Aguilera sent another text to a friend that indicated thoughts of suicide. APD said Aguilera had displayed “self-harming actions” that evening.
APD homicide detective Robert Marshall said he was in communication with Rodriguez from Saturday afternoon to Monday. Marshall said he attempted to contact Rodriguez four times since Tuesday but was told to speak to her lawyer.
Rodriguez commented on the Austin Police Department’s news conference on the KSAT 12 News Facebook page.
At 12:30 p.m., Rodriguez responded to a commenter who questioned the validity of the suicide note.
“It was a digital note that was later deleted,” Rodriguez wrote. “My daughter was not suicidal.”
Two minutes later, at 12:32 p.m., Rodriguez responded to a different commenter who said it sounded like “this young lady (Aguilera) was severely depressed and going through a lot.”
“...You do not know the type of relationship I had with my daughter at all,” Rodriguez wrote, again denying that Aguilera was suicidal. “Before you jump to conclusions, know that Austin PD is covering up for someone.”
Family announces funeral arrangements
Aguilera’s family will have four different funeral arrangements in Laredo on Dec. 8-9.
- Public Viewing: 5 to 9 p.m., Dec. 8, 2025, at Hillside Funerals & Cremations, 310 Hillside Rd., Laredo
- Vigil for the Deceased and Rosary: 7 p.m., Dec. 8, 2025, at Hillside Funerals & Cremations.
- Funeral Mass: 8:30 a.m., Dec. 9, 2025, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 555 E Del Mar Blvd, Laredo. The procession will depart at 8 a.m. from the funeral home.
- Cremation: Following the Mass, with private burial at Calvary Catholic Cemetery at a later date.
This is an ongoing story. Please check back for updates.
Read more: