Brianna Aguilera, Texas A&M Student, Ruled to Have Died by Suicide After Police Recover Deleted Note and Reports of Prior Suicidal Statements

Austin, TX – Austin police have ruled the death of Texas A&M sophomore and cheerleader Brianna Aguilera as suicide, revealing that the 20-year-old had written and deleted a suicide note on her phone and had made prior comments to friends about harming herself in the weeks leading up to her fall from a 17th-floor apartment.

Authorities released the findings at a Thursday press conference, where Austin Police Detective Robert Marshall said Aguilera had expressed suicidal thoughts as recently as October and again on the night of her death.

“Brianna had made suicidal comments previously to friends,” Marshall said. “This continued through the evening of her death, with some self-harming actions early in the evening and a text message to another friend indicating the thought of suicide.”

Police responded to an apartment complex at 12:46 a.m. Saturday, where they found Aguilera’s body outside the building. Surveillance footage showed she arrived at the complex shortly after 11 p.m. Friday to attend a party following the Texas A&M vs. UT tailgate.

Brianna Aguilera, Texas A&M Student, Ruled to Have Died by Suicide After Police Recover Deleted Note and Reports of Prior Suicidal Statements

Detectives said Aguilera became intoxicated during the events earlier in the night and had been asked to leave the tailgate. At the apartment gathering, a group of friends left around 12:30 a.m., leaving Aguilera with three other young women.

She told friends she had misplaced her phone and borrowed another student’s device to call her boyfriend from 12:43 to 12:44 a.m. Witnesses said they heard Aguilera arguing with him over the phone. Two minutes later, at 12:46 a.m., a 911 call was placed reporting the fall.

Police later recovered Aguilera’s phone near a creek, where it had been since roughly 6:30 p.m. on Friday. According to investigators, data on the device included a previously deleted suicide note.

Despite the department’s findings, Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, has publicly rejected the suicide ruling.

“Please don’t believe this lazy investigator and investigation!” she wrote in a Facebook post following the press conference. Rodriguez has insisted her daughter was not suicidal and claimed that Brianna would never have disabled her phone alerts while going out.

Brianna Aguilera with mother Stephanie Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has hired high-profile Texas attorney Tony Buzbee—known for representing more than 150 alleged victims in cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs—to conduct an independent investigation on behalf of the family.

In a statement on social media, Buzbee wrote, “They feel certain this was not an accident. This was certainly not a suicide. The family deserves straight answers. We hope we can help them get those answers.”

At the press conference, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis extended condolences to Aguilera’s family while standing by the department’s findings.

“I understand how grief and the need for answers can raise intense emotions and many questions,” Davis said. “But sometimes the truth doesn’t provide the answers we are hoping for. My heart aches for Brianna’s parents.”

Police stated they are not investigating the case as a homicide at this time. The family’s independent review is ongoing.