Southwest
Texas illegal immigrant indicted on capital murder charge in cheerleader's beating, stabbing death
A Texas grand jury has indicted the illegal immigrant suspect in a 16-year-old girl’s brutal killing on capital murder charges.
The indictment obtained by Fox News Digital says Rafael Govea Romero, 23, intentionally caused Lizbeth Medina’s death while in the course of attempting to commit a burglary, robbery or sexual assault.
The document also alleges Romero killed Medina by causing the teenager’s “head to strike a firm surface,” “striking” her head “with a hard object” and “repeatedly stabbing or cutting” her “with a sharp object or edged weapon.”
“It’s very disturbing to me,” Lizbeth’s mother, Jacqueline Medina, told Fox News Digital of the indictment, adding she thinks the grand jury handed down the capital murder charge because of “all the evidence and all the other details” in the case.
TEXAS TEEN FOUND STABBED IN BATHTUB LIKELY STALKED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT WHO TEXTED HER FRIENDS: POLICE
Jacqueline Medina came home Dec. 5 to find her daughter, Lizbeth “Liz” Medina, dead in the bathtub of their home after she had not seen or heard from the 16-year-old that afternoon. (Instagram)
Jacqueline also said she plans to be part of the justice process every step of the way.
“I don’t want to miss anything at all, not if I can help it, because my baby deserves justice, and I want to be part of it,” she said.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN TEXAS CHEERLEADER MURDER HELD ON ICE DETAINER
Lizbeth Media was staying home from school Dec. 5, but her friends and family did not notice anything out of the ordinary until she failed to show up at a Christmas parade that her cheerleading team was marching in that afternoon.
The Edna Police Department arrested Rafael Govea Romero, an “undocumented male” officials believe is “the person responsible for the death of Lizbeth Medina” in Schulenburg. (Edna Police Department)
Jacqueline, who attended the parade after work to support her daughter but never saw her there, immediately began reaching out to Lizbeth’s friends to find out where she was.
When she arrived home later that day, she found Lizbeth dead in the bathtub of their Edna apartment with her foot sticking out from behind a shower curtain.
TEXAS CHEERLEADER, 16, FOUND DEAD IN APARTMENT BATHTUB BELIEVED MURDERED: ‘I DON’T UNDERSTAND’
Days later, when the Edna Police Department named Romero as a suspect in her murder, Jacqueline told Fox News Digital that the man had no relation to her daughter or their family.
Jacqueline Medina came home to find her daughter, Lizbeth “Liz” Medina, dead in the bathtub of their home at the Cottonwood Apartments after she hadn’t seen or heard from the 16-year-old that afternoon. (Facebook)
Police determined their apartment had been burglarized Nov. 13, about a month before the teenager’s murder.
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Jacqueline previously told Fox News Digital she didn’t make the connection at first. She and Lizbeth had noticed little things that were going missing from their apartment for some time. On Nov. 13, they reported the missing belongings to police because some larger items had disappeared.
“I believe the burglary from 11/13/2023 could have a connection with the murder suspect,” an Edna officer wrote in an affidavit at the time. “I believed the suspect of this murder was at large and a present danger to the community.”
Police determined Jacqueline and Lizbeth’s Edna apartment had been burglarized Nov. 13, about a month before the teenager’s murder. (Jacqueline Medina)
Edna authorities also indicated Romero may have stolen Lizbeth’s phone after the murder. Lizbeth’s boyfriend tracked the 16-year-old’s location to an area about a half mile away from her apartment using his smartphone the day of her murder.
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The following day, Lizbeth’s cousin saw that her Snapchat sent to the victim had been opened, indicating that someone was using her phone after her death.
Within an hour of reporting the suspicious phone activity to Edna Police, authorities were able to track the geolocation of Lizbeth’s phone to the suspect in Schulenburg, Texas, about an hour’s drive from Edna, where they arrested Romero.
A Jackson County grand jury handed down the capital murder indictment this week. (Facebook)
The suspect’s bond was set at $2 million after his arrest.
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Jacqueline said she still has many questions about what happened to her daughter and why the suspect allegedly targeted the 16-year-old, and she awaits answers as Romero’s case plays out in court.
“I kind of want to know, just to have closure,” she said.
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Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat, is rumored to be under consideration to serve as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
Kelly, a 60-year-old former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain, has represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate since 2020.
Kelly was elected to the Senate in a 2020 special election that was held following the death of longtime Republican Sen. John McCain in 2018, defeating incumbent GOP Sen. Martha McSally.
A native of Orange, New Jersey, Kelly graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1986. He later attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, receiving a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering in 1994.
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Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks with reporters on July 25, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Kelly became a naval aviator in 1987 and was assigned to Attack Squadron 115 in Japan. He made two deployments and flew nearly 40 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm.
He received an array of commendations for his service in the military and retired from the Navy in October 2011. At the time, he wrote in a post on social media, “From the day I entered the United States Merchant Marine Academy in the summer of 1982 to the moment I landed the Space Shuttle Endeavour three weeks ago, it has been my privilege to advance the ideals that define the United States of America.”
Along with his identical twin brother, Scott Kelly, he was selected by NASA to serve as a space shuttle pilot in 1996.
Kelly, who took numerous trips beyond Earth’s atmosphere during his illustrious career as an astronaut, has reportedly logged more than 54 days in space.
Kelly, an independent turned Democrat in 2018, is the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., who he married in 2007.
Following the attempted assassination attempt of Giffords in 2012, Kelly shied away from public life to assist with his wife’s recovery efforts.
He is also the author of multiple books, including one he co-authored with Giffords in 2012 titled, “Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to swear in Sen. Mark Kelly, D-riz., with his wife Gabrielle Giffords, center, in the old Senate Chamber for the Ceremonial Swearing on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
In January 2013, Kelly and Giffords launched a political action committee named Americans for Responsible Solutions. The organization’s mission promoted what it believed to be solutions to gun violence with elected lawmakers and members of the public.
He won re-election to the Senate in November 2022, when he defeated Republican nominee Blake Masters.
Kelly is not the first astronaut to be elected to Congress. Others include John Glenn, Harrison Schmitt and Jack Swigert.
He is viewed by many political strategists, primarily Democrats, as a safe move for Harris as she considers who will appear alongside her on the November ballot.
Three days after President Biden announced his decision to step aside in the 2024 race for the White House, Kelly fielded questions from reporters in the hallways of the U.S. Capitol, where he was asked whether he would accept the vice presidential nomination.
“This is not about me. This is about the future of this country,” Kelly said at the time.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her presidential campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 22, 2024. (Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS)
“This is a choice between Kamala Harris, who’s an experienced prosecutor, vice president, U.S. senator, [California] attorney general, and a guy who’s a convicted felon,” Kelly added.
Kelly also predicted, following Biden’s drop out, that Harris “is going to win” the state of Arizona in the 2024 election.
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The iconic Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier will light up nightly during the Paris Olympics to cheer on Team USA beginning Friday.
The nightly light display will feature the five colored rings to symbolize the Olympic rings, a 90-foot-tall waving American flag to celebrate Team USA, a French flag for the current host country and the American flag to represent the games returning to the United States, specifically Los Angeles in 2028.
The Ferris wheel will be lit up from sunset until 12:30 a.m.
The Pacific Wheel is the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel, featuring 174,000 LED lights mounted on its 40 spokes and two hubs. The wheel’s lighting system features 16.7 million color value combinations to display dynamic, custom, computer-generated lighting entertainment, according to a news release.
Visitors can visit the theme park from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. to catch a ride on the nine-story carnival ride, which takes riders to heights of more than 130 feet over the Pacific Ocean.
If you can’t make it out to the Santa Monica Pier yourself, Pacific Park offers an online stream of the Ferris wheel.
Police asked the public for help this week in their search for a man who attacked a Target security guard with a skateboard in Santa Ana last month.
The altercation occurred on June 10, when the security guard asked a trespassing suspect to leave the store located at 1441 W. 17th Street, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.
“The suspect struck the victim multiple times with his skateboard, causing injuries, and then fled the store,” the Police Department stated in a post on Instagram.
Video embedded on the post shows the suspect swinging a skateboard at the guard and then running out of the store.
The attacker was described as a White man between 18 and 25 years old. He had a thin build, curly blonde hair, and was wearing a black sweatshirt, light-colored shirt, blue plaid shorts, black socks and black shoes.
Anyone with information was asked to call police at 714-245-8441.
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