SCHULENBURG, TX – A grand jury in Texas has recently indicted a 23-year-old immigrant, Rafael Govea Romero, for the gruesome capital murder of a 16-year-old girl. The indictment specifies that Romero deliberately killed Lizbeth Medina “during a burglary, robbery or sexual assault attempt,” according to documents.
The grim details ascribed to Medina’s killing involve multiple assaults including Romero causing Medina’s head to hit a hard surface, striking her head with a solid object, and incessantly slashing or stabbing her with a sharp weapon. The indictment’s graphic description saddened Medina’s mother, Jacqueline Medina.
Lizbeth Medina did not attend school on December 5, and the alarm was raised when she failed to join her cheerleading team in a Christmas parade later that afternoon. Following a fruitless search for her daughter, Jacqueline found Medina dead in their Edna apartment bathtub.
Following the burglary of their apartment a month prior to Medina’s murder, Jacqueline and Romero had reported their stolen possessions to the authorities. Even though they initially noticed trifling items disappearing, they lodged a formal complaint after some larger items went missing. The police apparently created a link between the apartment burglary and Medina’s murder suspect.
After Medina’s murder, her phone was traced to an area about half a mile from the apartment. This led to Romero’s arrest in Schulenburg, Texas. Jacqueline now seeks a closure awaiting answers from the pending court proceedings, Romero, in the meanwhile, is being held on a $2 million bond.