An illegal alien accused of murdering 16-year-old high school cheerleader Lizbeth Medina in Edna, Texas, overstayed his visa and was never deported, law enforcement officials say.
On December 5, Lizbeth was supposed to perform in a local Christmas parade with her cheer squad at Edna High School when her mother, Jacqueline Medina, found that she had not shown up. That was when Jacqueline went looking for her daughter.
Ultimately, Jacqueline found Lizbeth dead in the bathtub of their apartment.
“I don’t understand why. My God, why would they do this to her?” the Angel Mom told Fox News Digital. “She’s such a beautiful, smart, and amazing girl. There’s moments where I just can’t take it, and then there’s moments where I feel like I need to be strong for her.”
Photo of Lizbeth Medina from her mother’s Facebook.
On Saturday, Edna Police Chief Rick Boone announced that 23-year-old illegal alien Rafael Govea Romero had been arrested and charged with murdering Lizbeth. Boone said Romero overstayed his visa but was never deported.
In 2022, nearly 854,000 foreign nationals had overstayed their visas — a record.
Romero remains in Jackson County Jail on a $2 million bail, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has placed a detainer on him. The detainer requests that if Romero is released from jail at any time, he will be turned over to ICE agents for deportation.
ICE officials have yet to elaborate on Romero’s immigration history.
“I’m just praying for justice,” Jacqueline told Fox News Digital. “I want whoever did this … to be put behind bars because my daughter didn’t deserve any of this. She was an amazing, good girl.”
A GoFundMe has been created by Lizbeth’s aunt, Ana Medina, to help the family.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
