The official ruling is in. The medical examiner has spoken. Case closed. But for one grieving family, the investigation is anything but finished—and their battle against what they're calling a fundamentally flawed investigation is just beginning.
Brianna Aguilera, a 19-year-old Texas A&M student, fell from a high-rise apartment in Austin in the early morning hours of November 29th, just hours after attending a college tailgate party. The police department quickly concluded it was a suicide. The medical examiner's office has now rubber-stamped that conclusion. But Brianna's family and their legal team are saying that's not just wrong—it's dangerously, negligently wrong.
And they're willing to fight in court to prove it.
The Narrative Everyone's Being Told
According to official accounts, Brianna attended a Texas A&M versus University of Texas football tailgate that day. At around 1 a.m., she fell from a high-rise apartment. Police found what they claim was a suicide note. Friends reported she'd sent suicidal text messages. The logical conclusion, authorities insisted, was clear: this was a suicide.
Case closed. Investigation finished. Move along.
But here's the problem with neat, tidy conclusions: real life is messy, and sometimes the easiest answer is also the most wrong one.
The Family's Explosive Allegations
Brianna's family attorney, Tony Buzbee—known for taking on complicated cases that others won't touch—came out swinging with criticism so scathing that it essentially declared the entire police investigation a sham.
According to Buzbee's statement, the Austin Police Department's investigation was so inadequate that calling it an "investigation" is almost insulting to the concept of actual police work. The list of failures is stunning:
Phone records weren't reviewed. Not Brianna's, not the people with her that night, not anyone connected to the scene. That's Investigation 101, and it wasn't done.
Witnesses weren't fully interviewed. Some weren't spoken to at all, despite the family explicitly identifying them to police.
No statements were taken under oath. This means there's no legal accountability for anyone's testimony.
The timeline wasn't accurately constructed. Nobody knows the real sequence of events.
Video footage—which could have been absolutely critical evidence—was either not secured or not properly reviewed.
"The Austin Police Department's 'investigation' fell woefully short," Buzbee stated flatly. And he didn't stop there.
Why The Suicide Note Might Not Be What Everyone Thinks
Here's where it gets interesting. Police claim to have found a suicide note. But what if it's not what they think it is? What if it was written under duress? What if it's a forgery? What if it's something else entirely that authorities interpreted as suicidal when it actually wasn't?
Without a proper investigation—the kind that includes examining the full context, questioning the people around her, and actually working to understand what happened—we're just supposed to accept the first conclusion the police landed on. And Buzbee is essentially saying that's not good enough.
The suicidal text messages to friends are also being questioned. Were they genuine expressions of suicidal intent, or were they something else? Without a thorough investigation into what was happening in Brianna's life, her relationships, and the hours leading up to her death, we're just guessing.
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The Party Before the Fall
Here's what makes this case so frustrating: there's a crucial window of time that supposedly got lost in the shuffle. Brianna was at a tailgate party. She was around other people. Something happened—but what? Who was she with? What was she doing? Who might have had information?
Instead of methodically working backward from her death to understand the chain of events, police seem to have jumped straight to "suicide" and called it a day. That's not an investigation. That's an assumption wearing an official badge.
The Lawsuit That Could Change Everything
Rather than accept the medical examiner's ruling, the family's legal team filed a lawsuit in January. And here's the crucial part: this lawsuit is designed to do what police apparently couldn't be bothered to do.
Through legal discovery, they can subpoena phone records. They can compel witness testimony under oath. They can demand video footage. They can force people to cooperate. They can create actual accountability—the kind that a police investigation, conducted seemingly without rigor, failed to establish.
"We will do what the police and other authorities have failed to do," Buzbee wrote in a statement that sounds equal parts determined and disgusted. "We will perform a complete and thorough investigation and get the answers that Brianna and her family deserves."
Notice the phrase "Brianna deserved better." That's not just about the investigation. That's about the disrespect being shown to a young woman whose death was summed up, filed away, and closed without the proper work being done.
The Medical Examiner's Catch-22
Here's another frustrating element: the medical examiner's office has now ruled the death a suicide, but they did so largely based on the police investigation's findings. So we have an endless loop where police did inadequate work, and the medical examiner relied on that inadequate work to make their determination.
It's like a game of telephone where the message gets worse with each pass, and by the end, everyone's just accepting the distorted version without questioning it.
Why This Matters Beyond This One Case
Brianna's case has become a flashpoint in a larger conversation about how authorities handle investigations, particularly when suicide is involved. Is there a tendency to jump to "suicide" too quickly, especially with young people? Are police departments properly trained to investigate these cases with the rigor they deserve?
And more broadly: what happens when a family believes the official conclusion is wrong? How do they fight back? What recourse do they have?
For Brianna's family, the answer is the civil court system. They're taking matters into their own hands because they believe the people tasked with finding the truth failed them.
The Bottom Line
The official investigation is closed. The medical examiner has ruled. But in the court of public opinion and in actual court, this case is far from finished. What remains to be seen is whether a proper investigation—the kind police should have conducted months ago—will ultimately reveal something different from what we've been told.
For now, Brianna's family is fighting. And based on the legal team's commitment and the apparent gaps in the original investigation, this is a battle that's just getting started.
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