The 16-year-old cheerleader found dead in a bathtub was stabbed, according to multiple reports.
Lizbeth Medina was found by her mother in the apartment they shared in Edna, Texas, according to the city’s police department. Rafael Govea Romero, 23, was arrested Saturday and charged with capital murder, police say.
Edna Police Chief Rick Boone told ABC 13 and Click 2 Houston that Medina was stabbed to death. Lizbeth’s aunt Ana Medina also previously told the Victoria Advocate that her niece was found with stab wounds by her mother Jacqueline.
Medina, a cheerleader at Edna High School, was supposed to be at a Christmas parade with her cheer squad that night, Jacqueline told the Victoria Advocate. Ana told the outlet that Lizbeth and her mother had just moved to Texas from Nebraska a year-and-a-half before.
It is not immediately clear if Romero has retained an attorney or has entered a plea, police say. Authorities say he is undocumented in the country on an expired visa, according to ABC 13. ICE has placed a detainer on Romero, Edna police say.
Police claim they seized a vehicle and other evidence that allegedly connects Romero to the murder.
Ana Medina started a GoFundMe to raise money for her family, and wrote that her niece “was loved by many but most importantly she is loved and will be missed by the family she leaves behind.”
