Tony Buzbee is demanding a new investigation into Brianna Aguilera’s death, arguing APD’s timeline and conclusions are flawed as the family pushes for more answers.
HOUSTON — Attorney Tony Buzbee is calling for the investigation into the death of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera to be reopened with a new investigator, saying the Austin Police Department’s handling of the case has been “sloppy,” “unprofessional,” and based on a conclusion formed “within hours” of her death. If APD will not reassign the case, he said he will ask the Texas Rangers to take over.
Buzbee requested a Friday news conference in downtown Houston alongside Aguilera’s parents, who said the police investigation contradicts details they’ve learned and leaves major questions unresolved.
Family disputes police timeline and conclusions
The news conference came one day after Austin police released new information saying the evidence “does not point to criminal activity” in Aguilera’s death and that investigators believe she took her own life after falling from a 17th-floor apartment balcony early on Nov. 29.
Police also said a deleted digital suicide note was recovered from her phone, and it was written days before her death.
“From the moment this call originated… at no time did any evidence point to this being anything of a criminal nature,” APD Det. Robert Marshall said in Thursday’s media briefing.
But Aguilera’s family rejected that conclusion. Her mother said the investigation was “lazy” and full of “inconsistencies,” and Buzbee described the circumstances as “very suspicious,” arguing that police “created more questions than answers.”
“We refused to believe that this young woman committed suicide,” Buzbee said, adding that Aguilera “was not suicidal” and had no history of self-harm.
Attorney: APD formed a conclusion ‘without any investigation’
Throughout the news conference, Buzbee repeatedly accused APD of rushing to declare Aguilera’s death a suicide before completing basic investigative steps.
Missing key findings
The autopsy has not been completed, with the medical examiner estimating 60 to 90 days before results are available.Toxicology results have not been returned.Police acknowledged that a rape kit was performed, but “don’t even know where they’re going to send it.”
He argued that APD’s lead detective did not have the authority to determine the cause of death and improperly announced conclusions before the medical examiner had weighed in.
“The Austin Police Department formed a conclusion within hours of this tragedy… without any investigation,” Buzbee said.
Discrepancies in the timeline
A significant portion of the news conference focused on what Buzbee called “serious contradictions” in APD’s timeline.
According to police, Aguilera borrowed a friend’s phone at 12:43 a.m. for a one-minute call. At 12:46 a.m., officers were responding to a 911 call reporting a body on the ground outside the building.
Buzbee said police eventually confirmed in writing that Aguilera returned the phone to its owner before going onto the balcony, something he argues conflicts with APD’s earlier statements that her friends were asleep and unaware of her whereabouts.
“That is 180 degrees different than what you told us previously,” he said. “Whoever’s phone she was using was standing right next to her as she went over the balcony—if she went over the balcony.”
Why did the friends reportedly wait until 12:14 p.m. the next day to call the police?Why did the apartment’s lessee vacate the unit the next day?Why Aguilera’s wallet is missing, something Buzbee says police did not disclose publicly.
Witness accounts family says APD ignored
Buzbee outlined multiple witnesses he says were never interviewed by APD, including:
A TikTok user who reported hearing “fighting, screaming, somebody saying ‘get off of me!’” between 12:30 and 1 a.m.A neighbor across the hall who said she heard running, screaming, and could tell “something bad had happened.”A person who sent an anonymous message saying Aguilera had been locked out on the balcony.
He also referenced an altercation Aguilera reportedly had with another woman at a tailgate earlier that day, a woman who Buzbee said was also in the apartment that night.
“These are easy things to find out,” he said. “Why were these witnesses not questioned?”
Family’s plea: ‘Do your job’
Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, delivered an emotional statement.
“My daughter was not suicidal… We talked every day,” she said. “I cannot deal with you doing a news conference and saying false things about my child without a thorough investigation. Do your job.”
She criticized what she described as dismissive or arrogant communication from investigators and said police wrongly told friends not to speak with her.
What Buzbee wants to happen next
Buzbee said the Austin Police Department should reopen the investigation and reassign it to a different investigator.
If that does not happen, he said he will formally request that Gov. Greg Abbott engage the Texas Rangers, submitting a packet of 30 to 40 pages of witness statements and evidence the family’s legal team has gathered.
“The Texas Rangers have now been called to intervene,” Buzbee said in closing.
Background: What police say happened
According to the information APD released Thursday:
Aguilera had been drinking at a tailgate at the Austin Rugby Club on Nov. 28 and lost her phone.She went to the 21 Rio Apartments around 11 p.m. to meet friends.Surveillance video shows most of the group leaving around 12:30 a.m., leaving Aguilera with three others.Police received a call minutes later about a body on the ground outside.Investigators said her injuries were consistent with a fall from the 17th floor.They said digital evidence recovered from her phone included a deleted suicide note written days earlier.
But Aguilera’s family disputes that timeline and its conclusions, insisting they will keep pushing for what they believe is a thorough, unbiased investigation.
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