2:40 p.m. update: An Austin police affidavit filed in the arrest of the suspect in the homicide of University of Texas student Haruka Weiser — authorities' first account of the events that transpired the night she was killed — describes video footage of a man walking after Weiser wielding a "shiny rigid object."
Police have charged Meechaiel Khalil Criner, 17, with murder in Weiser's death. The affidavit for his arrest says a figure later identified as Criner was caught on UT surveillance video walking near the area where Weiser's body was later found, the affidavit said.
It showed Criner in the area at about 9:20 p.m. Sunday attempting to open the doors to a van parked in that area, the affidavit said.
Criner then was seen leaving the area on his bike and returning at 9:38 p.m., the affidavit said. It was then that the cameras caught Weiser walking past Criner. Criner then followed Weiser and pulled out an object from his pants the the affidavit described as a “shiny rigid object,” it said.
>>Read more: Report: Teen charged with killing Austin student was abused in foster care
Criner followed Weiser across a bridge near the UT alumni center and was not seen again on the video footage until 11:47 p.m. In that video, investigators believe they saw Criner limping as if he had suffered an injury, the affidavit said. He was also carrying another bag that he did not have in earlier footage, it said.
After authorities released parts of the video footage to the public Thursday, an Austin Fire Department official contacted police and informed them about a possibly related incident.
On Monday at 8:21 a.m., Austin firefighters responded to a fire at an abandoned building at 2911 Medical Arts Street, the same street Criner was last seen walking towards, the affidavit said.
Firefighters found Criner inside the building burning items. After they extinguished the fire, Austin police arrived and took Criner into the LifeWorks youth shelter after he identified himself as 17 years old and homeless, the affidavit said. Firefighters also took into custody a bicycle that matched one seen on UT’s video footage, it said.
Investigators later looked at video taken from the patrol car that took Criner into custody and noted that his clothing and appearance resembled the suspect in the UT surveillance video, the affidavit said.
Investigators then showed photos of a duffle bag Criner had in his possession at the time to some of Weiser’s friends, who identified the duffle bag as belonging to Weiser. Investigators also returned to the scene of the fire and found along the ashes a shoe and a jacket similar to the ones Weiser was wearing Sunday night, as well as a burned notebook with “college level course work,” the affidavit said.
Police also seized Criner’s bicycle from the fire station where it was being held. The bicycle resembled the one the suspect had in UT’s surveillance video, the document said.
Police then headed to LifeWorks and took Criner into custody under suspicion of tampering with evidence. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Criner’s LifeWorks locker and found shoes like the ones the suspect was wearing in the UT footage and a MacBook with a sticker that mentioned Portland, Ore., which is Weiser’s hometown, the affidavit said.
Weiser was charged with murder Friday, with bail set at $1 million, jail records show.
In a letter sent to the university community Friday, UT President Greg L. Fenves and Weiser's family thanked authorities for their work apprehending a suspect.
“Police and prosecutors still have much to do to bring this perpetrator to justice. And we, as a university community, will continue to deal with the pain of losing Haruka,” Fenves said. “But this is an important development that is the direct result of outstanding police work and community support — and that brings some relief to our grieving campus.”
In the statement, Weiser’s family said:
“We remain steadfast in our desire to honor Haruka’s memory through kindness and love, not violence. To the police officers, the UT community and all who have been impacted by this, we just ask that you hug your children, hug your parents TWICE, one from you and one from us.”
1:50 p.m. update: A murder charge has formally been filed against the 17-year-old man accused of killing University of Texas student Haruka Weiser.
State district court Judge Brenda Kennedy signed Friday the murder warrant for Meechaiel Criner in Weiser’s death.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services said that Criner, 17, had been reported as a runaway when Austin police encountered him following a trash fire near the UT campus on Monday.
Privacy laws prevented Family Protective Services from commenting any further about Criner’s care or the circumstances that led him to leave the care of the department’s child care system. Julie Moody with the Department said that once Criner was located, police took him to a youth shelter for the homeless.
Austin police requested Lifeworks to admit Criner into the organization’s emergency shelter Monday morning, Lifeworks executive director Susan McDowell said. There, he later met with his caseworker, Moody said.
McDowell said admitting Criner was a relatively normal request from Austin police. He remained under the care of Lifeworks until police arrested him without incident on Thursday, apprehending him at an undisclosed shelter.
While under their care, McDowell said they would have screened Criner to see if he suffered from any trauma or if he was a victim of child abuse.
10:45 a.m. update: Austin police have arrested 17-year-old Meechaiel Khalil Criner in connection with the death of University of Texas student Haruka Weiser.
Austin police Chief Art Acevedo said officials will file a murder charge against Criner this afternoon. Criner was in the Travis County Jail Friday morning with no bail set, jail records showed.
“We’re very certain that the subject we have in custody is the suspect responsible,” Acevedo said.
On Monday, firefighters responded to a call about a fire in the 2500 block of Medical Arts Street. At some point, authorities addressed Criner, who officials said has not been in the Austin area for long, and took him to Lifeworks, a shelter for homeless youth, Acevedo said. Firefighters later recognized him as the suspect on video police shared Thursday.
Officers arrested Criner at the shelter and detained him for tampering with evidence, Acevedo said.
Earlier: A 17-year-old man is in custody in the death of a University of Texas student, and police intend to pursue charges against him Friday, the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV have learned.
Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed the development in the investigation into who killed 18-year-old Haruka Weiser, a UT freshman from Portland.
The sources would not identify the teen because he is not yet charged. Austin police are hoping to schedule a mid-morning news conference to update the public.
It is unclear if the 17-year-old suspect is the man seen in grainy security video police released Thursday in asking for the public's help to find the killer.
However, sources said Austin firefighters provided a crucial tip to police after responding to a small fire involving a backpack and may have recovered some of Weiser’s belongings. It is not clear how police may have linked the teen to the fire.
UT police found Weiser’s body around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday along Waller Creek while investigating a missing persons report a day earlier.
Police have said she was last seen leaving a campus building and was traveling on foot back to her dorm when she vanished.
Weiser was found dead in Waller Creek on the UT campus Tuesday. The arrest came hours after Austin police revealed video of a “person of interest” in connection with Weiser’s death and offered a $15,000 reward for information in the case.
Austin Assistant Police Chief Troy Gay said Thursday that Weiser was last seen shortly after 9:30 p.m. Sunday leaving the Winship Drama Building. Gay said she texted her roommate as she headed toward her dorm in the 300 block of East 21st Street. Her classmates said the Waller Creek trail was the route she would take home.
Weiser never arrived at her dorm or made it to class the next morning, and a roommate reported Weiser as missing on Monday, Gay said.
Gay said UT police tried to find Weiser through their “normal protocol” of talking to friends and family before a UT officer found her remains in Waller Creek behind the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The Travis County medical examiner’s office ruled the case a homicide but hasn’t released a cause of death.
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