This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

The Travis County Medical Examiner has determined Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera died by suicide after falling from an Austin high-rise in November, a ruling that aligns with police findings but is being forcefully challenged by the teen’s family, whose attorney called the conclusion “flawed.”

Aguilera, 19, died after falling from a high-rise apartment after a Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football tailgate at about 1 a.m. Nov. 29, according to police.

“Austin Police (APD) is aware that the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office has concluded its final autopsy report regarding the death of Brianna Aguilera and ruled it a suicide,” authorities wrote in a statement to affiliate FOX 7 Austin. “The investigation remains open, and until it is closed, Austin Police will not be providing any additional information.”

Attorneys representing Aguilera’s family previously claimed she was killed despite the discovery of an alleged suicide note and suicidal texts to her friends on the night of her death.

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After the release of the medical examiner’s findings, Tony Buzbee, the attorney for Aguilera’s family, issued a statement criticizing the investigation.

“Since Brianna Aguilera tragically lost her life, there has been an overwhelming amount of love and support for Brianna and her family. There has also been an overwhelming amount of criticism concerning the authorities for their handling of the investigation surrounding her death,” Buzbee wrote in the statement, obtained by FOX 7. 

“Specifically, the Austin Police Department, without a legitimate investigation, quickly concluded that Brianna’s death was a suicide. This effort was far from what’s expected of law enforcement.

“As an example, the Austin Police Department and those involved in the investigation failed to review phone records of Brianna and those immediately connected to her or those at the scene,” he continued. 

“They failed to interview all witnesses, failed to take statements under oath, failed to put together an accurate timeline, failed to secure video footage, and, most importantly, failed to follow through and interview witnesses, even the ones that we identified for them.”

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Buzbee described the medical examiner’s ruling as “expected,” alleging the finding was “made in large part based on the shoddy work of the Austin Police Department.”

“To be clear. The Austin Police Department’s ‘investigation’ fell woefully short,” he wrote. “Brianna deserved better. Her family deserves better.”

The Buzbee Law Firm filed a lawsuit Jan. 5 related to Aguilera’s death.

Attorneys said the legal action will allow the family to put witnesses under oath, subpoena records and compel cooperation of potential witnesses. 

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“We will do what the police and other authorities have failed to do,” Buzbee wrote. “We will perform a complete and thorough investigation and get the answers that Brianna and her family deserves. The medical examiner’s flawed conclusion changes nothing.”

An Arizona family is calling for change and demanding answers after a 27-year-old man died hours after he was wrongfully discharged from a hospital and dumped on a sidewalk during a hot summer day, according to a wrongful death lawsuit. 

Seth and Gayle Lachica, the parents of Kaelen Lachica, allege staffers at Abrazo Health Arrowhead put their son in an Uber and had him dropped off outside a local homeless shelter in Phoenix despite his deteriorating condition. 

“What they did is abandonment. I mean, they absolutely killed my son,” Seth Lachica told Fox News Digital. 

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Kaelan Lachica suffered from anorexia for nearly a decade but his condition had improved in the year proceeding his hospitalization in August 2025, his father said. 

Lachica was hospitalized at one center before being transferred to Abrazo Health Arrowhead after having a possible stroke and losing weight. 

Days prior to his discharge, his health declined to the point he was “delusional” and “immobile,” the lawsuit states. On Aug. 13, 2025, Kaelan lashed out and struck a nurse and asked to leave the hospital “against medical advice,” the family’s attorney, Richard Lyons, told Fox News Digital. 

The lawsuit alleges that Kaelan was put in a wheelchair and into an Uber, which the hospital paid for, and was taken to a homeless shelter in downtown Phoenix. He couldn’t remember his address, Lyons said. 

However, Kaelan’s address was on his medical records and was easily accessible to hospital staff prior to his discharge, the complaint states. 

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“I mean they literally got him in a wheelchair and pushed him outside and discharged him,” Lyons said. “And I don’t mean medically discharged, I mean they evicted him from the hospital because they did not want him as a patient anymore.”

Kaelen was spotted collapsed on a sidewalk by a police officer, his family said. Temperatures reportedly reached triple digits that day. 

“How in the world are you gonna discharge a man who is very ill and just dump him on a sidewalk in the middle of August?” Lyons said. “If he, you know, whether he can make medical decisions for himself or not, people die out here in the heat all the time.”

The hospital called Seth Lachica in the early morning hours while he was asleep to notify him that his son was being discharged. After circling the area where Kaelan was dropped off, he found emergency responders performing CPR on his son in the street. 

“I told them not to release him. They f—— Ubered him here,” Lachica told responding officers. “They Ubered him here this morning and just f—— dropped him off to die.”

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Kaelan was transported to another hospital, where he died. The lawsuit alleges that Abrazo staff displayed a conscious disregard for Kaelen’s physical safety and well-being.

“One would not expect a bouncer at a bar to dump an incapacitated patron onto a hot Phoenix sidewalk in the middle of August — let alone the staff at a hospital,” the lawsuit states. 

“Yet that is exactly what the Abrazo staff did to Kaelen. This conduct goes beyond mere negligence, or medical malpractice — their decision to have their very sick young patient dumped onto the sidewalk — in Phoenix, in August — directly caused Kaelen’s death.”

Abrazo Health declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by Fox News Digital. 

The sheriff leading the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie acknowledged that missteps were made in the case’s early hours, including removing crime scene tape and delaying requests for assistance from outside law enforcement agencies.

According to reporting from The Arizona Republic, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said his department released Guthrie’s home as a crime scene too soon, only to return days later to recover additional evidence. Nanos acknowledged that, in hindsight, the scene should have remained secured longer and that other agencies could have been called in earlier.

Fox News Digital also obtained a statement indicating that the pilot of the county’s high-tech search aircraft had been disciplined following a dispute with Nanos and reassigned to street patrol, according to local law enforcement sources. As a result, the aircraft’s takeoff was delayed for several hours after Guthrie was reported missing around midday Sunday, the sources said.

“Three hours in a search for a vulnerable adult is an eternity,” a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation told Fox News Digital.

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The Pima County Deputies Organization criticized the decision to reassign the pilot, telling Fox News Digital that it opposed the move at the time because it left a critical law enforcement asset understaffed.

According to the deputy organization, the pilot personally appealed the decision to Sheriff Chris Nanos but was reassigned to patrol anyway. The group said the move reflected what it described as a broader pattern of leadership decisions, citing another instance in which the department’s most experienced Search and Rescue deputy was transferred to patrol late last year without a replacement.

The deputy organization said those staffing decisions left key units short-handed during what became one of the highest-profile searches in the sheriff’s department’s history and during one of the busiest times of year for Search and Rescue operations.

Nanos said investigators believed they had completed processing the scene at the time, but later determined that conclusion was premature.

Authorities believe Guthrie — the mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — was forcibly taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona, though no suspects or persons of interest have been publicly identified. Nanos said Thursday that investigators are continuing to pursue all leads.

“Everybody is still a suspect in our eyes,” Nanos said.

Investigators outlined a timeline of events during a news conference Thursday, saying Guthrie was dropped off at her home around 9:48 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, after having dinner with family.

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Authorities said the home’s doorbell camera disconnected from the security system at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. About 25 minutes later, software detected movement near the home, but no video footage was captured. At 2:28 a.m., Guthrie’s pacemaker application disconnected from her phone, which was later found inside the residence.

Nanos confirmed that blood discovered on the front porch was tested and that DNA analysis showed it belonged to Guthrie.

The FBI has since joined the investigation and is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery. Federal authorities said they are vetting ransom notes connected to the case and confirmed that at least one person has been arrested in connection with what investigators described as an “impostor ransom demand.”

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Nanos said the case has evolved into a possible kidnapping and that multiple agencies are now sharing information and resources. He added that it does not matter which agency is leading the investigation, saying the priority remains locating Guthrie.

Guthrie’s son, Camron Guthrie, made a new video appeal Thursday directed at whoever may be holding his mother, urging them to contact the family.

“We haven’t heard anything directly,” he said. “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you.”

Authorities have not released additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.

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The Pima County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Koch contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.