A law firm representing the family of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera announced a lawsuit Tuesday, in connection with the teen’s November death.
Attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents Brianna’s parents, Stephanie Rodriguez and Manuel Aguilera, said during Tuesday’s news conference that the lawsuit, filed Monday, is against Austin Blacks Rugby and UT Latin Economics and Business Association.
“The investigation remains open, despite the Austin Police Department’s previous comments to the contrary,” Buzbee stated, according to KHOU.
“We have expended substantial resources on this matter and will continue to do so until the family has the answers they deserve.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Austin police said the 19-year-old died by suicide on November 29, after falling 17 floors from the 21 Rio apartment complex, near the University of Texas, at 2101 Rio Grande Street in Austin.
The death happened after Brianna attended a tailgate party that allegedly involved underage drinking.
Aguilera’s family rejected the suicide claim, stating that detectives labeled the death prematurely without properly investigating.
Buzbee also reiterated that he believed Austin PD’s investigation had been lacking. According to Buzbee, a witness heard something going on inside the apartment, but police did not take provide an interview or take a statement.
The witness, Dannah Rodriguez, said Tuesday that she did “not believe the police were ever in [the] apartment during this investigation,” Chron reports.
Rodriguez, also represented by Buzbee, said she lives across the hall from the apartment Brianna had been at, on the night in question. At around 12:30 a.m., a loud argument coming from the apartment woke her up.
After a large group left the apartment a few minutes later, she heard a female arguing with others and sounds of people pacing back and forth by the front door.
She then heard “the kind of screaming someone makes when you accidentally drop something,” coming from a female’s voice. Rodriguez said her mother also heard the scream and that her father thought the argument had been coming from the balcony.
Shortly after her death, the neighbor “immediately vacated” the apartment.
“The only thing I have received from the Austin Police Department is a generic email sent to all residents of the 21 Rio apartment complex,” she said.
Austin PD provided a timeline of the events leading up to her death, determining that she took her own life after detectives found a deleted digital suicide note. They also reportedly found messages to friends about self harm.
Buzbee, however, said that only a medical examiner can determine the cause of death. He added that police told Aguilera’s mother that she took her own life within hours of finding her body.
He also stated that the “deleted suicide note” was not an actual suicide note, while challenging the police department’s timeline.
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Buzbee then asserted that Austin police told witnesses to not speak with Brianna’s mother or to investigators.
“Why would they do that? What reason could there be for the police department in Austin to instruct the people that were with Brianna at or around the time she died to not speak to Brianna’s mother?”
The lawsuit is seeking recovery of up to $1 million, along with “pre-judgement and post-judgement interests, costs, punitive damages and all other and further relief to which the plaintiffs may show themselves justly entitled.”
“By filing this lawsuit, not only will we hold accountable an entity or entities that were involved in overserving Brianna and other minors, but we will also be able to subpoena individuals and documents and video and data so we can continue our investigation,” Buzbee said.
“We will be able to compel witnesses so we can question them whether they want to or not.”
Buzbee added that the lawsuit would allow him access to evidence he hasn’t been able to obtain without a grand jury subpoena.
At the time of the conference, the autopsy, along with a rape kit and toxicology results were not yet available.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Brianna Aguilera/Handout]