Southwest
Texas teen Lizbeth Medina murder suspect pleads not guilty, looks 'forward to his trial,' attorney says
Rafael Govea Romero, the suspect in Texas 16-year-old Lizbeth Medina’s December 2023 murder, is pleading not guilty, according to his attorney.
Romero, a 24-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, is accused of stalking the Edna High School cheerleader before allegedly striking her over the head and stabbing her in the apartment that she shared with her mother on Dec. 5.
“He entered a plea of not guilty. We look forward to his trial to defend his case. He is innocent,” said Romero’s defense attorney, Chris Iles, after the suspect was arraigned in Jackson County Court on Thursday.
A Jackson County grand jury in February indicted Romero on a capital murder charge in connection with Medina’s death. Medina was found in the bathtub of her apartment with “smeared blood on the sides of her and what appeared to be a stab wound to the upper stomach area,” according to a police affidavit previously obtained by Fox News Digital.
TEXAS TEEN LIZBETH MEDINA MURDER: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT RAFAEL ROMERO
A Jackson County grand jury indicted Rafael Romero on a capital murder charge in connection to Lizbeth Medina’s Dec. 5, 2023, stabbing death. (FOX 26 Houston)
Police were able to locate the suspect on Dec. 10 in Schulenburg, Texas, using cellphone data and other evidence tying him to the crime scene.
MOM OF TEXAS TEEN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT CALLS FOR CHANGE AFTER LAKEN RILEY MURDER
At the time of his arrest, Romero was on probation for a burglary in Schulenburg, about 60 miles from Edna, in 2022, as the Fayette County Record first reported.
The Edna Police Department arrested Rafael Govea Romero, an “undocumented male,” whom officials believe is “the person responsible for the death of Lizbeth Medina,” in Schulenburg, Texas. (Edna Police Department/Edna Police Department)
Edna police believe Romero may also be tied to a burglary that occurred at Medina’s home about a month before her stabbing death.
TEXAS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INDICTED ON CAPITAL MURDER CHARGE IN CHEERLEADER’S BEATING, STABBING DEATH
The victim’s mother, Jacqueline Medina, left her apartment on the morning of Dec. 5 for work. Her daughter typically left for school afterward, but that day, she neither made it to school nor the Christmas parade that her cheer team was participating in.
Jacquelin Medina came home to find her daughter, Lizbeth “Liz” Medina, dead in the bathtub of their residence at the Cottonwood Apartments after she had not seen or heard from the 16-year-old that afternoon. (Facebook)
Jacqueline went to the parade, expecting to see her daughter, but when she could not find Lizbeth anywhere, she began reaching out to friends and family for help tracking down the 16-year-old. Later that evening, Jacqueline found her daughter dead in their bathtub.
LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ‘AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY’ AFTER DAUGHTER’S FUNERAL
The grieving mother said neither she nor her daughter knew Romero but noted that their house had been burglarized on Nov. 13, about a month before the teenager’s murder. Edna police officers believe Romero may have been involved in that burglary and may have stalked Lizbeth before allegedly attacking and killing her.
The Edna Police Department is investigating Liz Medina’s death as capital murder. (Facebook)
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston “lodged an immigration detainer with the Jackson County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office on Rafael Govea-Romero, 24, Mexico, following his arrest for capital murder.”
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ICE ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody as part of the agency’s mission to identify and arrest removable illegal immigrants, according to ICE.
Romero’s arraignment was held in Jackson County on Thursday, but the defendant waived his right to appear in person, according to the Jackson County Herald-Tribune.
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Southwest
Uvalde trial halted after key witness changes testimony
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The trial of a former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer accused of not doing more to save lives in the 2022 shooting that left 21 dead was halted after a key witness reportedly changed her testimony.
Adrian Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment following the attack at Robb Elementary. He could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if he’s convicted, prosecutors said.
Former teacher Stephanie Hale testified on Tuesday that she saw the shooter on the south side of the campus, the same area where Gonzales was located, according to Texas Public Radio.
However, defense attorneys objected, arguing her testimony was different compared to statements Hale made to a Texas Ranger during a 2022 investigation when she placed the shooter closer to Gonzales than previously indicated, the outlet added.
TRIAL UNDERWAY FOR FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF SLOW RESPONSE TO SHOOTING
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales leaves the courtroom during a break at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
The jury in the trial was then dismissed until Thursday as attorneys are preparing arguments on motions related to Hale’s testimony, the report said. The judge in the case is expected to hear those arguments on Wednesday, and the defense has raised the possibility of a mistrial, Texas Public Radio also reported.
Gonzales, who was among the first to respond to the attack, arrived while the teenage assailant was still outside the building. The officer allegedly did not make a move, even when a teacher pointed out the direction of the shooter, special prosecutor Bill Turner said Tuesday during opening statements in the trial.
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, right, and his attorney Nico LaHood, left, arrive in the courtroom at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
The officer only went inside Robb Elementary minutes later “after the damage had been done,” Turner said.
FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE CHIEF, OFFICER INDICTED OVER RESPONSE TO ELEMENTARY MASS SHOOTING
“When you hear gunshots, you go to the gunfire,” Turner added, noting that Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the police force, had extensive active shooter training.
Attorney Nico LaHood makes opening arguments during a trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
An indictment accused Gonzales of putting children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his training. The allegations also said he did not go toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told the shooter’s location.
Gonzales’ attorneys disputed accusations that he did nothing at what they called a chaotic scene, saying that he helped evacuate children as other police arrived.
Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer for schools in Uvalde, Texas. At right is a memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults killed on May 24, 2022, during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. (Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office/AP/Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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“The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there,” defense attorney Nico LaHood said on Tuesday. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Trump endorses Cuellar opponent after pardoning Dem rep
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Tano Tijerina in Texas’ 28th Congressional District race after criticizing Rep. Henry Cuellar for running again as a Democrat following a presidential pardon.
“I don’t know why, but the fact that Henry Cuellar would be running against Donald J. Trump, and the Republican Party, seems to be a great act of disloyalty and, perhaps more importantly, the act of a fool who would immediately go back to a Political Party, the Radical Left Democrats, whose views are different from his, but not nearly good or strong enough to be a true Republican,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in part.
The president said if he had to do it again, he would still pardon Cuellar, arguing the prosecution against him was politically motivated, but criticized his decision to run for re-election.
“Henry should not be allowed to serve in Congress again,” Trump added before endorsing Tijerina, a judge in Webb County, Texas, who switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
HOUSE DEM PARDONED BY TRUMP REVEALS WHETHER HE WILL SWITCH POLITICAL PARTIES
Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina poses for a portrait in his office on February 20, 2025, in Laredo, Texas. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Tano’s views are stronger, better, and far less tainted than Henry’s, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from Texas’ 28th Congressional District — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” said Trump.
The commander in chief pardoned Cuellar in December after he was indicted by the Justice Department in May 2024 on charges alleging he accepted roughly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani state-owned oil and gas company and a Mexican bank in exchange for using his office to influence U.S. foreign policy.
ABBOTT ORDERS COMPREHENSIVE FRAUD PROBE INTO TEXAS CHILD CARE FUNDING AFTER MINNESOTA SCANDAL
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was accused of taking more than half a million dollars in bribes from an Azerbaijan-owned energy company and a Mexican bank. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, were facing multiple counts, including bribery, money laundering and unlawful foreign influence.
After Trump granted him clemency, the congressman thanked the president for what he called his “tremendous leadership,” and said the decision allowed South Texas to move forward.
President Donald Trump announced his pardon of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas on Truth Social in December. (Nathan Howard/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on,” Cuellar wrote on X.
Cuellar won re-election in November 2024 and has been in Congress since 2005.
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Southwest
Family of Brianna Aguilera sues over alcohol service ahead of death
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The family of Brianna Aguilera, the Texas A&M student who fell to her death from a high-rise apartment in November, is suing two organizations for allegedly overserving alcohol ahead of the 19-year-old’s death.
Attorney Tony Buzbee on Tuesday announced a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Travis County against the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Economics and Business Association.
“It is illegal to serve minors any amount of alcohol in the State of Texas. It is reckless and irresponsible to grossly over-serve a group of minors at a University of Texas football tailgate to the point where those minors lose their physical faculties and ability to control themselves,” the lawsuit states.
Aguilera died when she fell from an Austin high-rise apartment following a Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football tailgate at around 1 a.m. Nov. 29, according to police.
POLICE SHOULD BE TAKING ‘CLOSER LOOK’ AT COLLEGE STUDENT’S DEATH AFTER MOTHER’S ALLEGATIONS: FORMER PROSECUTOR
An image provided by the family of the young Texas A&M student, Brianna Aguilera, found dead in Austin over the weekend. (GoFundMe)
A police investigation later determined Aguilera died by suicide despite her family’s claims that she was killed.
Brianna Aguilera was found dead in an apartment hours after attending a tailgate party. (Facebook/Brie Aguilera)
According to the filing, the alleged “egregious over-serving of minors” led to Aguilera’s death. Witnesses described her behavior over several hours as “shifting from upbeat to disoriented and ultimately grossly intoxicated,” the suit says.
Brianna Aguilera holds a sign congratulating her on her acceptance to Texas A&M. (Instagram/brie.aguilera)
TEXAS A&M STUDENT BRIANNA AGUILERA’S FALL DEATH SPARKS POLICE RESPONSE TO FAMILY’S EXPLOSIVE CLAIMS: REPORT
Buzbee said the lawsuit is also intended to support the ongoing investigation into the events of that night by allowing the firm to seek phone and text records, documents and data and to compel witness testimony.
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The lawsuit requests a jury trial.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
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