Apartment neighbor recounts events before Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera fell from building

HOUSTON — Houston attorney Tony Buzbee held a news conference Tuesday to present new witness information and raise new questions in the death of Brianna Aguilera, a Texas A&M student who fell from a high-rise building in Austin in November following the A&M-Texas rivalry football game.

Buzbee also talked about a new lawsuit filed yesterday, which names a UT-Austin affiliated club and a local rugby club as defendants.

RELATED: Houston attorney Tony Buzbee calls for new investigator in case of Texas A&M student who died in Austin

Aguilera, 19, died after falling 17 stories from an apartment she had gone to after attending a tailgate earlier in the evening.

Police suggested the death may have been a suicide, a conclusion Buzbee forcefully disputed.

Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, stood alongside Buzbee as he criticized what he described as a rushed and incomplete investigation by the Austin Police Department.

“We believe even more today that this is not a suicide as the police suggested,” Buzbee said. “It was either an accident or something much more sinister.”

FULL ACCOUNT OF AUSTIN PD: TIMELINE: The hours before a Texas A&M student fell to his death from an Austin building.

Buzbee said an evaluation of Aguilera’s recent behavior showed no signs of self-harm.

“She had declared her major. She wanted to study abroad,” Buzbee said. “An inspection of her apartment confirmed that this woman had no intention of harming herself.”

A new testimony

A key part of the press conference was testimony from a neighbor who lived directly across the street from the apartment where Aguilera was staying.

Dannah Rodriguez, who is not related to Aguilera’s family, said she was not contacted by APD for questioning beyond a brief, generic statement requested from all residents after the incident.

Rodriguez said she was hosting her parents at her apartment the night of the incident. She said she remembered hearing about activity that she believed was relevant to the investigation.

She described the apartment’s walls as “paper thin,” with its front door facing the apartment Aguilera was in before her fall.

According to Rodriguez, she heard people entering the apartment around 11 p.m., followed by loud music. Around 12:30 a.m., after the music stopped, she said she heard a girl arguing with several people inside the apartment, accompanied by rhythms and raised voices.

Rodriguez said her mother commented on the prolonged argument, her dog started barking at the noise and then she heard screams that sounded like a person’s reaction to something valuable smashing on the floor.

She said voices could be heard from the balcony, leading her to believe the argument may have moved outside.

“Who was with Brianna on that balcony? Why did she go over the balcony?” » asked Buzbee. “The police don’t seem to be interested in this issue.”

RELATED: ‘I don’t have any answers’: Mother of Texas A&M student found dead in Austin questions police account

Rodriguez also said the apartment’s occupant left the unit the day after the incident and saw the occupant’s parents taking her belongings out of her peephole.

Buzbee said Austin police have not contacted Rodriguez for a full interview, calling her one of the most critical witnesses in the case.

“[Brianna’s family] “I want the truth, no matter what that truth turns out to be,” Buzbee said. “What we have gotten so far is a terrible, shoddy investigation.”

Buzbee said his office retained two investigative firms, including one working pro bono, to independently examine the circumstances of Aguilera’s death.

He also claimed that Austin police told witnesses not to talk to Aguilera’s parents or their attorneys and that police indicated they would need a subpoena to access text messages from witnesses and Aguilera’s boyfriend.

“If they don’t do it voluntarily, we’re going to force them to do it,” Buzbee said, referring to the use of subpoena power.

The new trial

After raising these concerns, Buzbee announced that his office had filed a civil suit on behalf of Aguilera’s family.

The lawsuit names Austin Blacks Rugby and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association as defendants.

The suit alleges that Aguilera was illegally served alcohol at an event hosted by the two organizations earlier in the evening. Aguilera was 19 years under the legal drinking age at the time of her death.

“Brianna was obviously overserved, even the police admit that,” Buzbee said.

RELATED: ‘Suspect’: Houston attorney Tony Buzbee represents parents of A&M student who died in Austin apartment fall

The lawsuit alleges that Aguilera’s condition deteriorated throughout the evening and that she needed help from friends to leave the event around 10 p.m.

She then went to a friend’s apartment, where the fatal fall occurred a few hours later.

Buzbee emphasized that the lawsuit seeks testimony and evidence that he believes was not provided voluntarily.

“If the police don’t do their job, we will do it for them,” he said.

Buzbee concluded by calling on anyone who was inside the apartment that evening to come forward.

“It’s not over. It’s far from over,” he said. “We’re going to get to the bottom of what happened…and as painful as it is, we’re going to get that answer.”