The mother of a 16-year-old girl from Texas, tragically discovered deceased in their Edna apartment on Tuesday, is fervently seeking justice for her sole child.

On Tuesday evening, Jacquelin Medina returned home to a harrowing scene: her daughter, Lizbeth “Liz” Medina, lifeless in the bathtub of their Cottonwood Apartments home. Earlier that afternoon, she had been unable to reach or locate the 16-year-old.

Describing the distressing discovery to Fox News Digital, Medina recounted, “I went searching for her, continuously calling her phone, only to be directed to voicemail… I phoned numerous people, but no one had any information. It was when I entered the bathroom, talking to a friend on the phone about helping me search for her, that I noticed her foot in the bathtub. When I pulled back the curtains, there she was.”

The Edna Police Department is treating Liz’s death as a capital murder case, though details about the circumstances of her death remain undisclosed.

Jacquelin Medina discovered her daughter, Lizbeth “Liz” Medina, in such a state in their Edna, Texas, apartment, as seen on Facebook. The mother and daughter had been residing in this apartment complex temporarily after relocating from Nebraska for Medina’s renewable energy job. They were the only two with keys to the apartment.

On the morning of the incident, Medina left for work at her usual time of 6 a.m., having woken Liz up for cheer practice. Liz last communicated with someone around 7:30 a.m. that Tuesday. Since Liz had been ill and absent from school the previous Monday, her absence on Tuesday did not initially alarm her friends.

After work, Medina went home to change out of her muddy construction clothes and then attended a Christmas parade where Liz’s cheer team was performing. Not finding Liz among the Edna High School cheerleaders, Medina’s concern grew, leading her to make several phone calls before discovering the tragic scene at home.

“It’s agonizing… I didn’t realize she had been there all along. I could have seen her… but I didn’t check the bathroom,” a distraught Medina shared.

She expressed her inability to forget the image of her daughter and her incomprehension of the brutality behind the young girl’s death, saying, “I don’t understand why. My God, why would they do this to her? She was such a beautiful, smart, and amazing girl. I alternate between moments of unbearable pain and feeling the need to be strong for her.”

Confident in the Edna police’s efforts, Medina hopes for justice, saying, “I want the perpetrator behind bars. My daughter, an amazing and good girl, didn’t deserve this.”

Remembering Liz, Medina emphasized her maturity and kindness, “She wasn’t a typical teenager. She was mature, caring, and impacted many lives. I want her to be remembered for her true self, not for how she was taken from us.”

The Edna Police Department is actively investigating and encourages anyone with information about Liz’s death to come forward. In tribute to Liz, Medina is urging attendees of an upcoming Edna High School football game to wear purple, with a live-streamed game and a vigil planned in Liz’s memory.

Original article title: Texas cheerleader, 16, found dead in apartment bathtub believed murdered: ‘I don’t understand’