Authorities are investigating the tragic death of 16-year-old cheerleader Lizbeth Medina, whose body was discovered earlier this week in her apartment in the small town of Edna, located between Houston and Victoria. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers have launched a possible capital murder investigation, though officials have released few details about what led to the teen’s death.
Lizbeth’s mother, Jacquelin Medina, was the one who made the devastating discovery on Tuesday. Her voice filled with grief, she described the moment as unimaginable. “The most horrible way a mother could find her child. She was murdered in cold blood,” Jacqueline said to the local CBS affiliate KHOU.
Lizbeth was her only child, and her mother said she had a bright future ahead. “It should have been a great day because she was involved in the Christmas parade. She was going to be with the cheer squad,” Jacquelin recalled. Instead, Lizbeth never made it to the event, leaving her mother to face what she described as her “worst nightmare.”
“I lost it. She was my world, my everything. … Everything I do was for her,” Jacquelin said. Law enforcement has not yet shared specific details about the investigation, but confirmed that they believe Lizbeth’s death is being treated as a homicide.
For Jacquelin, the loss is crushing. “Someone dared to go in and just rip my daughter away from me; it just kills me,” she said. “I just want answers to why they would do this to an amazing little girl who would never hurt anyone, wouldn’t dare to hurt anyone.”
Despite her grief, Jacquelin said she has been comforted by an outpouring of love from the Edna community. Messages have come flooding in from classmates, neighbors, and even strangers touched by Lizbeth’s story. “She was a very good girl, and recently, I’ve received messages from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people.
And it amazes me because I didn’t know how much she was loved by everybody else,” Jacqueline said. In the days following her death, the town has come together to honor Lizbeth. On Thursday, the Edna High School football team will wear purple shirts and ribbons during their game in Cypress. On Saturday, a vigil will be held in Edna, giving the community a chance to mourn and remember the young cheerleader whose life was tragically cut short.
Lizbeth’s aunt wrote on a GoFundMe page that her niece “was loved by many, but most importantly, she is loved and will be missed by the family.” She leaves behind several family members and friends who have been “torn apart by this tragedy.”