The aunt of slain Texas high school cheerleader Lizbeth Medina said the family had never seen or heard of the undocumented immigrant accused of stabbing the teen, and is also seeking answers about why he may have committed the murder.
Rafael Romero, a 23-year-old living in Texas on an expired visa, had no previous encounters with the family before the fatal stabbing, the victim’s aunt, Ana Medina, told The Post on Tuesday.
“We look at his face, we look at his family. he has no connection [to Medina]”said the aunt. “We never met him. “The police said it was an isolated crime.”
Romero was arrested this weekend and charged with one count of capital murder, but police have not yet revealed a motive for the attack.
The aunt, however, applauded Romero’s quick arrest and said she was relieved that he won’t be able to hurt anyone else.
“We stopped a really evil person and he is no longer on the streets,” he said. “We don’t want her to see the light of day… I know that my niece did not die in vain, because this person is a monster.”
Lizbeth Medina was found stabbed to death by her mother in her bathtub. ABC 13
On December 5, Lizbeth Medina, a 16-year-old student at Edna High School, was found dead in the bathtub of her family’s apartment by her mother, Jacqueline Medina, who went to look for her after the girl had missed the parade. of Christmas. , where she was supposed to march with the rest of her cheerleading squad.
“I decided to go look for her. And I kept calling her phone non-stop and it took me straight to voicemail,” the distraught mother previously told Fox News Digital.
“It wasn’t until I entered the bathroom that I was on the phone with my friend asking him to come help me look for her; it was then that [saw] his foot, and he was in the bathtub. And then I opened the curtains. There she was,” Medina said.
Edna Police Chief Rick Boone revealed Monday that the teen had been stabbed to death.
Rafael Medina, 23, was arrested Saturday on charges of capital murder in Schulenburg, Texas.
Ana Medina told The Post that she was the first person her sister called after making the horrible discovery.
“I heard their screams, I heard their pain,” he recalled.
The aunt said that she is very close to her sister, Lizbeth’s mother, and that her niece was like a daughter to her.
The teenager’s violent murder shocked Edna, a small city of 5,500 people located about 100 miles southwest of Houston, where his mother Jacqueline Medina had recently moved from Grand Island, Nebraska, to work in the renewable energy sector.
Security images released by police show a young man who resembles the suspect, Rafael Govea Romero. Edna Texas Police Department/Facebook
On Saturday, local police and the Texas Rangers, acting on a tip, arrested Romero at his family home in the town of Schulenburg.
They also seized items from his silver Ford Taurus that they said linked him to the murder.
Ana Medina said the news of Romero’s arrest brought her sister “a little peace,” but the aunt emphasized that “she has the same questions as everyone else.”
He urged the public to “be patient” and trust authorities to build a case against Romero. He also thanked authorities for working long hours and “sleepless nights” to make an arrest.
“We are calm because they found this person,” he said. “He was an evil guy.”
Jacqueline Medina (left) said she became worried about her daughter Lizbeth (right) after she didn’t show up to a Christmas parade. ABC 13
Romero has been in the United States illegally after overstaying his visa, Chief Boone said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a detainer against the suspect due to his undocumented status, police said.
Romero’s bail has been set by a magistrate at $2 million.
A funeral for Lizbeth Medina will be held Tuesday night, followed by a burial the next day.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn