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Police have said that neighbors of murdered Texas cheerleader Lizbeth Medina can ‘sleep in peace’ after they arrested a suspected illegal immigrant for her killing.
Mom Jacqueline Medina found her 16-year-old daughter dead in a bathtub at their home in the small town of Edna on Tuesday after she failed to show for a Christmas parade.
Police released security camera footage on Friday of a suspect they were interested in showing a bearded man running to a silver Ford Taurus.
And on Sunday Edna Police morning they announced they had arrested ‘undocumented male’ Rafael Govea Romero in Schulenberg, about 50 miles to the north.
‘Edna Police Department and Texas Rangers immediately traveled to Schulenburg where Romero was placed under arrest for Capital Murder and transported to Jackson County Jail,’ they wrote.
Rafael Govea Romero was booked into Jackson County Jail late on Saturday night
Mom Jacqueline Medina (left) found the body of Lizbeth (right) dead in a bathtub at their home
The popular 16-year-old was due to take part in a Christmas Parade with her Edna High School cheer squad on the day she died
‘Although Romero is apprehended, we recognize Lizbeth’s family and friends are grieving and still need support from the community.
‘The citizens of Edna can now sleep in peace!’
Jacqueline described last week the horrific moment she discovered her daughter’s body at the Cottonwood Apartments home they shared.
She had woken her daughter as she left for work at 6am on Tuesday because Lizbeth needed to join her Edna High School teammates for cheer practice ahead of the parade that afternoon.
But when Jacqueline went to the parade after work her daughter was not there and she discovered that no-one had heard from her since 7.30am.
‘I decided to go look for her, and I kept calling her phone nonstop, and it would take me straight to voicemaiI,’ she told Fox News.
‘I called a bunch of people and nobody knew anything. It wasn’t until I walked into the restroom that I was on the phone with my friend asking him to come help me look for her – is when I [saw] her foot, and it was in the bathtub.
‘And so I opened the curtains. There she was.’
‘It was the most horrible way a mother could find her child. She was murdered in cold blood,’ Jacquelin said
Police released security footage of the man they were looking for on Friday wearing a black ‘Volcom’ sweatshirt
He ran towards a silver Ford Taurus he was thought to have driven off in
‘I just want answers to why they would do this to an amazing little girl who would never hurt anyone, wouldn’t dare to hurt anyone,’ Lizbeth’s mother said
A conviction of capital murder in the state of Texas is defined as a capital felony which is punishable by life imprisonment, the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole
Lizbeth, who also went by Liz, was a junior at Edna High School and planned to attend Arlington University to study nursing.
The small community of Edna, home to around 6,000 people, has been shaken by the killing, and the Edna football team and community honored Lizbeth by wearing purple ribbons and shirts at a game on Thursday, while a vigil was held for her in the town on Saturday.
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‘It was the most horrible way a mother could find her child. She was murdered in cold blood,’ Jacquelin told KHOU.
‘It should have been a great day because she was involved in the Christmas parade. She was going to be with the cheer squad.
‘I lost it. She was my world, my everything. Everything I do was for her. Someone dared to go in and just rip my daughter away from me, it just kills me.
‘I just want answers to why they would do this to an amazing little girl who would never hurt anyone, wouldn’t dare to hurt anyone.’
A Gofundme appeal has raised more than $15,000 for the bereaved family
Police released few details of the case citing the ‘integrity of the investigation’.
‘We understand the community wants information in regards to the case, however we have to keep the integrity of the investigation our number one priority,’ EPD Chief Rick Boone said on Friday.
‘We also understand the community is concerned about the individual still being on the loose.’
They said ‘countless hours’ had gone into the investigation ‘with the help of community, friends and family’.
Jacqueline had moved only recently to the town from her home in Grand Island, Nevada, to take up a job in renewable energy and said she and her daughter were the only ones with keys to the apartment.
Asked if she recognized the arrested suspect, she said ‘not at all’.
But she was grateful for the outpouring of support from Lizbeth’s friends.
‘I’ve received messages from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people,’ she added.
‘And it amazes me because I didn’t know how much she was loved by everybody else.’
One friend who cheered with Lizbeth posted a heartfelt tribute to Facebook and said: ‘The loss of a friend like you is something that can never be recovered. You have always been an important part of our life.’
‘Words cannot describe what I am feeling. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the people you left behind. Rest in peace gorgeous we love you so much.’
A gofgundme appeal for the family had raised more than $15,000 as of Sunday morning, and a Facebook page: Justice for Lizbeth Medina has attracted more than 200 members.
The Edna football team and community honored Lizbeth by wearing purple ribbons and shirts, and a vigil was held on Saturday for her
One friend who cheered with Lizbeth posted a heartfelt tribute to Facebook about her tragic death
‘I just want everybody to know that that was an amazing child,’ her mother said.
‘She wasn’t a normal teenager getting in trouble for doing crazy stuff. She was very mature for her age. ‘She was a caring and loving person who, as far as I know and from the messages I received, she changed a lot of people’s lives.
‘I just want everybody to remember her that way and not the way that she was taken from me.’
A conviction of capital murder in the state of Texas is defined as a capital felony which is punishable by life imprisonment, the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole.
