Two young sisters in Texas were caught on camera appearing to smirk as they were taken into custody after a mother of five was fatally stabbed in broad daylight, authorities said.
Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, and her sister, Amaya “Cookie” Diaz, 19, were arrested Thursday in Del Rio, a small border city about two hours west of San Antonio, after 32-year-old Caroline Peña was stabbed multiple times earlier that day, according to the Del Rio Police Department.
Peña, who was known as “Caro” to her loved ones, was taken to Val Verde Regional Medical Center around 2:10 p.m. with multiple stab wounds. She was later transported to a medical facility in San Antonio for emergency surgery, but she died around 9 p.m.
Police said investigators quickly determined that the stabbing happened at an address in Del Rio. Witness statements and surveillance footage helped authorities identify the suspects.
Video from the arrests showed the Diaz sisters being handcuffed and walked toward police vehicles. As they were taken away, they appeared to glance toward the camera, with one of them seemingly smirking.
The clip also showed the young women sitting in patrol vehicles while a woman who identified herself as their mother confronted the person filming.
“Can you please not record? That’s my house and those are my daughters,” the woman said.
She later asked again for the filming to stop before walking away toward officers.
A third woman, 21-year-old Kyandra Renee Faz, was also arrested in connection with the deadly stabbing.
Police said all three women were charged with murder and taken to the GEO Correctional Facility while awaiting magistration. Officials said additional charges could be added as the investigation continues.
Authorities have not publicly released a motive.
Peña’s friends and family are now demanding justice and mourning the loss of a woman they say was caring, generous and deeply loved.
“This wasn’t something that happened in a back alley,” Peña’s friend Zelina Ochoa told KENS 5. “This happened at the corner near Sonic on one of our busiest roads in broad daylight.”
Friends said videos of the attack had circulated online before being removed. One video reportedly showed Peña in a blood-soaked shirt as three women surrounded her.
Ochoa said she and Peña had known each other for years after meeting through a young parenting program that helped them navigate school while raising children.
“Me and Caro, we go way, way back,” Ochoa said. “We got to take our sons to school and we did the school thing together while we had our kids to school with us.”
She remembered Peña as someone who would give anything she had to help someone else, even while raising five children of her own.
“If you needed something and she had it, even if it was her last, she’d give it to you,” Ochoa said.
Another friend, Lupita Garza, described Peña as one of the most selfless people she knew.
“Caro was one of a kind,” Garza said. “She helped everyone who was in need. She brought so much light to so many of us, especially her warm hugs and that one-of-a-kind laugh. She always made sure she had a smile on her face everywhere she went.”
Peña’s best friend, Christina Salinas, said she had been with her the night before the killing. She also said she missed a phone call from Peña shortly before the deadly attack.
“I feel like if I would have answered that call, honestly I would have been there with her,” Salinas said. “It wouldn’t have gotten like that.”
Peña was a mother and a twin sister. Friends said her oldest son is 17 and preparing to graduate.
Ochoa said the arrests do not undo what happened or the loss Peña’s children now face.
“Those girls are in jail. Eventually they’ll see their kids, but Caro is a memory now,” she said. “Those kids were left without a mom.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the confrontation to come forward as the investigation continues.
A long prison time will wipe the smirk of their faces and maybe they would learn something
Should be the death sentence, but I keep forgetting we don’t value human life in this country.