Brianna Aguilera, a dedicated Texas football enthusiast, hails from Laredo, where she passionately supports the United High School Longhorns. Known affectionately as ‘Brie,’ she has carried her love for football into her college years.

Transitioning to higher education, Brianna has embraced the maroon and white of Texas A&M University, leaving behind the iconic burnt orange. At the Bush School, she is diligently working towards a political science degree, investing most of her time in her academic pursuits.

With her sights set on a future in law, Brianna eagerly anticipates ordering her Aggie ring and preparing for the LSAT. Her ambition to attend law school immediately after graduation is supported by her impressive 4.0 GPA, underscoring her dedication and focus.

In a tragic turn of events, Austin Police received an alert from a good Samaritan at 12:47 a.m. concerning an unconscious woman found outside the 21 Rio high-rise. By 12:57 a.m., the woman was pronounced dead, with authorities suspecting a fall from the building as the cause.

Amidst these events, a mother’s instinct kicks in. Stephanie grows uneasy when her daughter’s phone switches to “do not disturb.” Her concern intensifies, particularly since her daughter had assured her of her safe arrival at a tailgate party, with instructions to keep her phone and location visible for safety reasons.

Repeated calls to her daughter’s phone, the police, and surrounding hospitals continue to turn up no word on her daughter’s whereabouts. This is unlike the behavior the honor student has always shown her family; that is why the family starts to panic.

It’s not until 4 p.m. that afternoon that Stephanie Rodriguez is told her 19-year-old daughter, Brianna Aguilera, is dead. Officers first tell her Brie jumped, then say her friends don’t know how Brie ended up 17 stories below them.

Austin PD recovers Brianna’s phone, though they haven’t said where, returning the device to her grieving mother. Stephanie says her daughter’s texts indicate she got in a fight with one of the other girls staying at the Rio 21 apartment Friday night.

When she highlights the texts to an officer, he tells her they are not investigating Brianna’s death as a homicide, and the texts does not change the course of the investigation.

Stephanie Rodriguez does not accept Austin PD’s assumption. Brianna committed suicide. Stephanie, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, insists Brianna was excited to attend the tailgate and had a long list of future plans. Her daughter was also so afraid of heights, she wouldn’t ride roller coasters on her cheer team’s senior trip to Disney World.

Stephanie believes one of the 14 “friends” Brianna was with that night knows what happened to her daughter.

Joining Nancy Grace today:

Additional Guests

• Stephanie Rodriguez – Brianna Aguilera’s Mother
• Josephine Nava – Grandmother of Brianna Aguilera
• Sydney Sumner – Investigative Reporter, “Crime Stories”

“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” on Fox Nation is also a national radio show on SiriusXM channel 111, airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.

[Feature Photo: Handout]