Mom Finds Little Teen Girl in Bathtub Stabbed Dead, Still in PJs

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime, News

3.9 • 7.6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Jacqueline Medina leaves for work, she wakes her daughter, who has plans for the day.

Jacqueline's cheerleading squad is meeting at Edna High School for practice, ahead of the Christmas parade planned for the afternoon. Jacqueline Medina arrives at the parade, excited to see her daughter perform, but Lizbeth is not with the rest of the cheerleaders in the parade. Friends confirmed they hadn't seen Lizbeth in the parade either. In fact, no one had heard from Lizbeth

Worried, Jacqueline starts calling her daughter’s cell phone. The calls go straight to voicemail. Jacqueline Medina heads home, to the apartment the two of them share. When Medina gets home, the door is unlocked. Inside, nothing seems out of place. When Jacqueline goes into the bathroom, she pulls back the shower curtain, finding Lizbeth Medina, unconscious.

The search for a suspect begins. The day after Lizbeth Medina’s murder, Edna police released surveillance photos of a person and a vehicle of interest. The bearded male in the photo is wearing a black Volcom hooded sweatshirt and he is seen driving a silver Ford Taurus.

Two days after the murder of Lizbeth Medina, Edna Police announced an arrest. The suspect is a 23-year-old "undocumented" migrant, thought to have been living in the USA for the last 5 years. His name is Rafael Govea Romero. He was captured about 75 miles north of Edna in Schulenburg, Texas, where he reportedly has family.

Romero is jailed on suspicion of capital murder. KPRC reports his bond is set at $2 million. Edna Police Chief Rick Boone says items missing from Lizbeth Medina's apartment were found in Romero's possession.

Police say Romero confessed to the murder.

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

Nicole Deborde Hochglaube – Criminal Defense Lawyer, Houston; Former Prosecutor; Twitter: @debordelaw
Caryn L. Stark – Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych/FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
Chris McDonough – Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room”
Dr. Todd M. Barr – Board-certified Anatomic/Clinical/Forensic Pathologist, Featured in “Thin Places: Essays From In Between” by Jordan Kisner
Elaine Aradillas– Senior Crime Reporter at The Messenger; Twitter: @elaineja, Instagram: @the_elaineja

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Crime stories with Nancy Grace. All A's cheerleader, mom's best friend. Mom just moves to another state for a new job supporting her 16-year-old
0:30.7	daughter all on her own.
0:33.6	She gets up much like my mom and dad did
0:38.2	and is gone from the house at 6 a.m.
0:41.6	for this new job and renewable energy I think it was.
0:45.0	She wakes her teen girl up Liz Beth before she goes to work to make sure she's up and about
0:52.0	because she's got a really big day.
0:54.8	She's a cheerleader and she's going to cheer or be in a group of cheer
0:59.4	leaders doing a dance or a cheer and a big Christmas parade. So it's a big day. So mom wakes
1:08.3	Liz Beth up and heads to work. Works all day long, flies to the Christmas parade to see her daughter, she sees
1:17.8	cheerleaders go by and she doesn't see Liz Beth.
1:26.0	Finds out no one else has heard from Liz Beth
1:30.0	since that morning at 7.30 a.m.
1:40.9	flies home. Her daughter, the a student, the cheerleader, already got it all mapped out to go to nursing school is in her PJs in the bathtub dead. I really don't even know how to go past that because all I can think about are my
1:58.2	two 16 year old twins. But for Elizabeth's sake and for her mother's sake, we're going to move forward.
2:08.0	I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories
2:14.7	and on Sirius XM 111.
2:17.8	How did this whole thing occur?
2:20.5	Listen to our friend, John Limley.
2:23.0	As Jacqueline
2:24.0	As Jacqueline Madina leaves for work at 6 a.m. she wakes her daughter.
2:28.0	She has plans too.
	...

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