A 16-year-old Texas cheerleader is dead and an illegal immigrant is charged with her Dec. 5 murder.
Rafael Govea Romero, 23, is suspected of stalking Lizbeth Medina, who was found stabbed to death in her bathtub, according to an affidavit written by Edna police and obtained by Fox News Digital. He has been charged with capital murder and placed on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.
The Edna High School student was found in the bathtub with “smeared blood on the sides of her and what appeared to be a stab wound to the upper stomach area,” the affidavit reveals.
“While processing the scene, it was discovered Lizbeth had multiple stab wounds, and her clothing was soaking wet, leading us to believe Lizbeth’s homicide was a criminal homicide (murder) and that her body had been washed after the murder,” it states.
Texas police arrest undocumented suspect in 16-year-old cheerleader Lizbeth Medina’s murder – Fox News https://t.co/MLwzw33jaM
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A month before her brutal death, on November 13, Lizbeth’s apartment had been burglarized, according to police.
Little things had been turning up missing from her apartment for some time, Lizbeth’s mother, Jacqueline Medina, told Fox News Digital. It took her a while to make the connection, Jacqueline said. When some larger items disappeared on November 13, they reported it to the police.
“After this person was caught and [police] found those specific things that were missing, that’s when I knew it was connected,” Medina said.
The police, too, saw a possible connection.
“I believe the burglary from 11/13/2023 could have a connection with the murder suspect,” wrote one Edna officer. “I believed the suspect of this murder was at large and a present danger to the community. I was especially concerned that the person believed to be the murder suspect was texting other high school students, leading me to believe the suspect was targeting students.”
“Furthermore,” the officer continued, “I believe the public was in danger due to the stalking-like behavior displayed by the suspect via the potential connection of the 11/13/2023 burglary and driving through the apartment complex on 12/4/2023.”
For Medina, the stalking is the “scariest part” of the nightmarish tragedy.
“I can’t even think how a person is capable of such things,” she said. “I didn’t understand how a stranger could stalk someone. You know what I mean? I didn’t think it was real. I’ve seen it in movies, but I never once thought it was real, and that’s scary to me. I have panic attacks.”
The story gets even creepier.
Fox News Digital reports:
Edna authorities 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. 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.
Additionally, Lizbeth’s boyfriend and friend received texted replies from her number Dec. 9, the day of Lizbeth’s vigil.
‘So people understand how sick this man is, Saturday, the day of my daughter’s vigil — which was, to me, magical because I know she was there and everybody who was there felt her — minutes after the vigil, one of her friends texted my daughter’s phone and just wanted to say something beautiful to her,” the mother said. “And this person responded.”
After the friend shared the response with Lizbeth’s boyfriend, he texted his girlfriend’s phone and also received a reply.
“At that point, they call me, and they said, ‘Jackie, someone’s responding to Elizabeth’s phone,'” Medina said. “My heart dropped. I said, ‘It’s him. It’s got to be him.'”
As gut-wrenching and terrifying as the phantom texts must have been, they lead police right to their suspect, thanks to the geolocation on Lizbeth’s phone. An hour after her mother reported the suspicious phone activity, Edna police headed for Schulenburg, Texas, roughly an hour’s drive from Edna, and arrested Romero.
“I’m so thankful to the police department. … There were a lot of people involved, and I’m thankful to the community who helped as well. But it was the quick moves of the police department,” Medina said. “They got an emergency disclosure for the geolocation for that phone and were able to track this person.”
Now, the grieving mother hopes something good can come from her daughter’s death.
“More than anything, I want something good to come out of this tragedy. I want to find a way that we can make better laws because, as you know, this person shouldn’t have even been here,” she said. “If protocols were followed, he probably shouldn’t have even been in the country. So, I definitely want something good to come out of this in my daughter’s name. No matter how long it takes.”
Until then, she plans on keeping her “amazing” daughter’s memory alive.
“I just want everybody to know that that was an amazing child,” Jacqueline said. “She wasn’t a normal teenager getting in trouble for doing crazy stuff. She was very mature for her age. She was a caring and loving person who, as far as I know and from the messages I received, she changed a lot of people’s lives. I just want everybody to remember her that way and not the way that she was taken from me.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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