The mother of a Texas A&M student who died just hours after attending a tailgate in Austin is disputing the police account – claiming texts on her daughter’s phone show she fought with another girl shortly before tragedy struck.
Brianna Aguilera, a Laredo native and aspiring lawyer, has been identified by her mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, as the young woman found dead outside an Austin apartment building in the early hours of Saturday.
Austin Police have yet to formally name the victim or reveal a cause of death, but confirmed they responded to reports of an unresponsive woman at an address just west of the University of Texas campus.
Officers pronounced her dead at the scene at 12:57am but said they do not consider the death to be suspicious and aren’t investigating it as a homicide.
The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office will ultimately determine the cause of death – a process that can take months.
But Rodriguez claims officers said Aguilera jumped from the 17th floor — a theory she strongly disputes.
‘There are a lot of inconsistencies with the story,’ Rodriguez told KSAT.com. ‘He told me they said she jumped, and then he told me that the friends said they didn’t know her whereabouts.’
Brianna Aguilera, a Laredo native and aspiring lawyer, has been identified by her mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, as the dead female discovered outside an apartment
Aguilera was clearly proud of her enrollment at Texas A&M, where she was studying law
Rodriguez stressed to KSAT that her daughter wasn’t suicidal, and was instead hopeful about becoming a practicing lawyer some day.
She believes at least one of the 15 people inside the apartment at the time of her death knows more about the tragedy.
Rodriguez believes the text messages on her daughter’s phone may be the key to solving her death.
‘There was a fight that happened between my daughter and another girl, and they were all staying in the same apartment that I have actual text messages of, and the detective just disregarded them,’ Rodriguez said.
When asked by the Daily Mail about Rodriguez’s claims, an Austin Police spokesperson responded with a portion of a previously provided statement: ‘This remains an open death investigation and is not being investigated as a homicide. The cause of death will be determined by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.’
Aguilera was among many students in Austin for Friday’s Texas-Texas A&M game, where the Longhorns upset the previously undefeated Aggies.
Rodriguez told KSAT she was informed by police that Aguilera plummeted to her death from the 17th floor of an apartment building just west of the University of Texas at Austin
As seen on her Instagram page, Aguilera was a football fan with experience in cheerleading
As seen on her Instagram page, Aguilera was an avid football fan with experience in cheerleading.
‘Brianna graduated from United High School in Laredo, TX where she was a seasoned cheerleader and received honors of Magna Cum Lade,’ read a GoFundMe page set up by her surviving family.
‘She was pursuing her dream of becoming a lawyer and was attending The Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M, her dream was to always be an AGGIE! She was a year shy of attaining her Aggie ring.’
The summary continued: ‘On Friday, November 28, 2025, Brianna attended the UT vs. Texas A&M tailgate with friends at Austin. The details surrounding what happened next remain unclear, and her mother is still awaiting answers.’
The fundraiser is aimed at helping Aguilera’s family shoulder the financial burdens they say they’re face since her death. As of Monday evening, more than $23,000 had been raised.
