A homeless teenager was arrested in the murder of a dance student at the University of Texas at Austin, police said on Friday.
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“It was unsettling”, said 20-year-old Jasmine Chavez, who was on UT’s central mall area Friday but hails from Houston.
Police say when arrested, Criner had some of Weiser’s belongings with him.
For now, the accused teen remains in Travis County Jail charged with first-degree murder.
A video was released on Thursday showing a person of interest near where Weiser’s body had been found. A young woman who reported a trash fire near the campus on Monday recognized the person in the video as the one who had started the blaze and told police.
Child Protective Services keeps children’s records confidential, but more information about Criner’s foster care history could emerge in court, Moody said.
Meechaiel’s grandmother said authorities told her that her grandson was caught stealing in McKinney prior to admittance into an emergency shelter for youth in Austin, which was over 200 miles away.
The affidavit says campus surveillance video shows the suspect watching a female believed to be Weiser as she walked to her dorm.
After Austin police received this info, they returned to the scene of the fire to find a small shoe, and a notebook with coursework amongst the ash. Her body was discovered on Tuesday, April 5.
As she passed, the affidavit said, the suspect produced “what appeared to be a shiny rigid object” and followed her. The pair dropped from view as they reached the creek bank, though, and the suspect wasn’t seen on video again for two-plus hours. Leo Criner said his nephew, Meechaiel, was bullied throughout his childhood in Texarkana, Texas, and has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old.
“We will learn from this, as Haruka’s parents asked us to do, and become a safer community”, said Fenves.
He said the motive for the killing was not known. A 17th death would be attributed to Whitman in 2001 when a Fort Worth man died of injuries from the shooting.
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Wadley, who also lives in Texarkana, said she planned to travel to Austin on Monday. We are relieved to hear this news.
