Austin Police Department Chief Lisa Davis discusses the death of Brianna Aguilera

New York Post

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Transcript

00:00Good morning everyone and thank you for being here. First I want to offer my deepest condolences

00:09to Brianna Aguilera's family, friends, and loved ones. I stand before you as the chief of police,

00:16but first and foremost as a mother. I have three daughters and a son and I cannot begin to imagine

00:22the pain that Brianna's family is feeling. As a parent, none of us want to contemplate the loss

00:26of a child and again my heart aches for them. Before I turn this over to our lead detective,

00:32I want to be clear about a few things. It is not common for a police department to speak publicly

00:37about a death by suicide, but inaccurate information has circulated and been reported

00:43and that has led to additional harm of innocent people, bullying included, and their families.

00:51There have also been statements suggesting the police have failed to do our jobs.

00:54Those statements are not accurate. I understand how grief and the need for answers can raise intense

01:02emotions and many questions, but sometimes, sometimes the truth doesn't provide the answers

01:11we are hoping for and that is this case. Please know that careful investigations take time.

01:16We must interview witnesses, collect evidence, and piece together facts. Releasing partial information

01:24too early can jeopardize the integrity of that case. I want to assure everyone that our team worked

01:30around the clock. These guys do not sleep. They worked around the clock on this case and many of them

01:37are parents themselves. We used every available resource, interviewed numerous people, gathered evidence,

01:44because we, too, want to understand what happened to Brianna, who was clearly loved by so many.

01:52I want to thank our Homicide Unit and Victim Services for their thorough work on this investigation

01:57and providing support for everyone that has been involved.

02:01I'm now going to turn it over to Detective Marshall, who will walk us through the timeline.

02:04First, I'd like to start off by saying that our deepest sympathies and condolences got to Brianna and her family.

02:17During this investigation, we've had a chance, I've had a chance, to speak with numerous members of her family

02:23and friend group, both here in Austin and College Station and in Laredo.

02:26All of them, it's completely apparent that she was very much loved.

02:31Every friend and witness during this investigation has been nothing but forthcoming and open during the entire time I've spoken with them.

02:39I've been in contact with dozens of people over the past week, and every single one of them has answered my calls,

02:45my texts, submitted to interviews, and helped give answers from the moment that I've asked for that help.

02:50This also includes several people submitting to second interviews freely and without hesitation.

02:56The location this happened at, the 21 Rio Apartments, have also been helpful since the very beginning of this investigation.

03:03They've allowed us around-the-clock access to the apartment which Brianna was last seen at,

03:08as well as access to their internal camera system, which has been very beneficial in establishing a timeline of that evening's events.

03:15On Saturday, November 29th, at approximately 12.46 a.m., the Austin police officers responded to a call of a deceased person

03:24located at 2101 Rio Grande Street.

03:28The decedent, later identified as Brianna Aguilera, was located on the ground with trauma consistent to having fallen from a higher floor.

03:36Brianna was pronounced deceased at 12.56 a.m.

03:40I, along with crime scene specialists, responded to process the scene and interview witnesses.

03:46A witness informed officers that they had heard a sound of a thud and then observed a female on the ground.

03:53Initially, it was unknown who the decedent was and on what floor she had fallen.

03:58The medical examiner arrived on scene, and the body was taken to the medical examiner's office,

04:02where she was later positively identified.

04:04In the meantime, I was able to contact one of the employees at the 21 Rio apartments at approximately 6 a.m. that same morning.

04:13The staff at 21 Rio were cooperative throughout this entire investigation.

04:17By approximately 10 a.m., we were able to access the camera's system inside the apartment complex, which shows us the hallway areas.

04:24It was found that Brianna had arrived at the apartment complex just after 11 p.m. on Friday, November 28th,

04:31and that she went into a specific apartment on the 17th floor.

04:36Video surveillance has confirmed that a large group of friends left that same apartment at 12.30 a.m. on November 29th,

04:45leaving just Brianna and three other girls in the apartment.

04:47Now, on Saturday, November 29th, at approximately 12.54 p.m., I, along with patrol officers,

04:56made contact with the residents of that specific apartment that Brianna had been observed going into.

05:02The residents informed me that they were trying to report that their friend Brianna was missing.

05:06I was able later to confirm they had, in fact, placed a 911 call at 12.14 p.m. earlier that afternoon

05:13to report their friend Brianna was missing.

05:16They informed me that they were hosting friends for the Texas A&M football game

05:20and that Brianna was supposed to be staying there that preceding evening.

05:24I spoke with three different female witnesses on scene,

05:27as well as later a fourth witness who had left earlier that morning.

05:30The investigation showed that Brianna had been at a tailgate party earlier in the day

05:34and became intoxicated to a point that she was asked to leave the same tailgate.

05:39She had told her friends that she had lost her phone at some point near that tailgate.

05:42They had all returned to the apartment where Brianna borrowed a phone of a friend

05:47to call an out-of-town boyfriend.

05:50Witnesses heard Brianna arguing on the phone with her boyfriend,

05:53which was also confirmed later by the boyfriend.

05:58Phones from both the phone Brianna used and the boyfriend's phone have confirmed

06:02through call logs that that call did occur.

06:04Now, this call occurred at approximately 12.43 to 12.44 a.m.,

06:09approximately one minute.

06:11This is two minutes before the 911 call of the body found down below on the pavement.

06:16On Saturday, November 29th, it was found that Brianna's mother,

06:20Stephanie Rodriguez, had called the Austin Police Department at 12.50 p.m.

06:26This was in an attempt to locate Brianna.

06:28Rodriguez called back an hour later at 2 p.m.,

06:31stating the location of her daughter's missing phone.

06:35The phone was located by Austin Police Officers in a wooded area by 3.30 p.m.

06:40that afternoon near Walnut Creek in a field by the Austin Rugby Club.

06:45Through this investigation, it was found that Brianna had attended the tailgate

06:48on Friday, November 28th at the Austin Rugby Club,

06:52arriving between 4 and 5 p.m.

06:54and then leaving at approximately 10 p.m.

06:58Witnesses stated that after Brianna was asked to leave the tailgate,

07:01she had repeatedly dropped her phone and staggered into a nearby wooded area

07:05where her phone and other items were later located by Austin Police.

07:09Just after 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 29th,

07:13officers from the scene paged homicide to inform them

07:16that they had located the property belonging to Brianna

07:18and determined that there was also a separate deceased person call with the same name.

07:23Rodriguez was notified of Brianna's death just before 5 p.m.

07:27Brianna's phone was placed with the rest of her property still on the 17th floor of the apartment

07:31for her family to later receive.

07:34On Monday, December 1st, the mother and father of Brianna met with victim services

07:38and those of us in the homicide office at police headquarters.

07:44There, Rodriguez turned over Brianna's phone and gave it back to us.

07:47A further review of Brianna's phone shows a deleted digital suicide note

07:53dated Tuesday, November 25th of this year,

07:57which was written to specific people in her life.

08:00From the moment this call originated up until now,

08:04between all of the witness statements, all of the video evidence,

08:07and all of the digital evidence collected,

08:09at no time did any evidence point to this being anything of a criminal nature.

08:13Rather, our investigation has revealed that unfortunately Brianna

08:18had made suicidal comments previously to friends back in October of this year.

08:23This continued through the evening of her death

08:25with some self-harming actions earlier in the evening

08:28and a text message to another friend indicating the thought of suicide.

08:32We recognize that hearing news like this can be difficult

08:35and may affect members of the community in very personal ways.

08:38If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress

08:41or mental health struggles, support is available.

08:43You can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

08:48or contact Integral Care's 24-hour helpline at 512-472-HELP.

08:56That's 512-472-4357 to be connected with local crisis services,

09:03including mobile response teams.

09:04No one should have to navigate these kind of crises alone.

09:06No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:07No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:08No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:09No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:11No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:12No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:13No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:14No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:15No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:16No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:17No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:18No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:19No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:20No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:21No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

09:22No one should have to navigate these kind of crises.

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