Rafael Romero is a killer who would plead guilty to the murder of teen Lizbeth Medina in Texas
According to court documents Rafael Romero, who was in the USA illegally, would stab to death sixteen year old Lizbeth Medina in her bathtub. According to family members the teenager had been stalked by her killer leading up to the fatal attack
Rafael Romero would be arrested and he would ultimately plead guilty to murder in order to avoid the death penalty
Rafael Romero being in the USA illegally would set off anger across Texas and the USA as a whole
Rafael Romero Now
Inmate Information Details
SID Number: 20073589
TDCJ Number: 02578451
Name: ROMERO,RAFAEL GOVEA
Race: H
Gender: M
Age: 25
Maximum Sentence Date: LIFE SENTENCE
Current Facility: BYRD
Projected Release Date: LIFE SENTENCE
Parole Eligibility Date: 2053-12-08
Inmate Visitation Eligible: NO
Rafael Romero Case
The man accused of killing a Texas cheerleader in 2023 has agreed to a plea deal, the Jackson County district clerk confirmed on Wednesday.
Rafael Romero was charged with capital murder in the stabbing death of 16-year-old Lizbeth Medina. The Edna teen’s mother found her dead in their bathtub on Dec. 5, 2023.
The Texas Rangers arrested Romero a few days later in Schulenburg, about an hour northwest of Edna. He had been stalking Lizbeth before she was killed, according to court documents.
Romero is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.
Lizbeth’s mother said she just learned about the plea deal on Monday.
“Words can’t explain right now,” Jacqueline Medina told Crossroads Today in Victoria. “I’m still in shock from the plea deal. From the beginning of this process, I made it clear that I wanted the max for this person who took my daughter’s life away. That is the death penalty or life in prison. So, the plea deal really came as a surprise.”
‘She was murdered in cold blood’
Lizbeth was Medina’s only child. She knew something was wrong when her daughter didn’t show up at a Christmas parade where the cheerleaders were performing.
“A mother should never go through what I went through,” Medina told KHOU 11 in 2023. “The most horrible way a mother could find her child. She was murdered in cold blood.”
She said Lizbeth was her whole world.
“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.”
They’d only lived in Edna for about a year, but Medina was amazed by the support she received from the small town. A GoFundMe account raised over $21,000 to bury Lizbeth in her native Nebraska.
Rafael Romero News
Rafael Romero appeared in court Thursday, where a Jackson County judge announced he is now competent to stand trial.
Romero is charged with capital murder in the death of 16-year-old Lizbeth Medina. The beloved cheerleader at Edna High School was killed more than a year ago, on Dec. 5, 2023. Investigators said the teen’s mother, Jacqueline Medina, found her body stabbed to death in their bathtub after she didn’t show up to a Christmas parade that she was supposed to be cheering in.
KPRC 2’s Corley Peel spoke with Jacqueline Medina after she saw her daughter’s killer in court for the first time. Medina said she sat directly behind Romero to make sure he saw her.
“It was terrible,” Medina said. “I held up a little better than what I expected. I just became close to losing it. I just kind of wanted to make a statement that, you know, hey, I’m here. When he walked into that room, we made eye contact. I was feeling so many things. I couldn’t stop shaking. I had to breathe and calm down because I know I needed to sit in there.”
Fighting through tears, Medina clutched a keychain photo of Lizbeth in her hand.
“I held that through the court. I kept looking down at it just so it could give me strength and know that I was there for her,” said Medina
Romero was expected to go to trial in December of 2024. Two months before the date, his attorneys filed several motions, asking the judge to push back the date to allow Romero to undergo a mental health evaluation and comb through digital evidence.
Jacqueline says she is relieved Romero has been found competent.
“I didn’t expect anything less. We, as a community, we all knew that he knew what he was doing,” Medina said.
he trial was once again, pushed back. Romero is now expected to face a jury later this year on Aug. 11.
Following his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer on Dec. 10, 2023.
An immigration detainer is a request from ICE to law enforcement agencies to hold a non-citizen for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release. This allows ICE to take custody of the individual for potential deportation proceedings. As of now, no additional details about Romero’s immigration status have been released.
“All I can say is that we live with pain every single day. It keeps getting pushed back and we just want answers. I feel like it’s so long. It’s been so long, and we just want justice. It doesn’t get easier. It gets harder and harder each day. Harder by the minute. But especially now that graduation is coming close. That’s another thing. She could have been graduating. I’ll never get to see her ever graduate. I’ll never get to see her become a nurse like she wanted. I’ll never get to see her be a mom, get married,” Medina said
