By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio Police Department detectives have executed search warrants for DNA and cell phone data in an ongoing investigation into the June murder of a Del Rio woman.
DRPD Detective Darian Castro filed affidavits on July 10 requesting the search warrants for “the seizure of the DNA” of Amaya Cookie Diaz, 19, one of the three women charged with murder in the stabbing death of Del Rio resident Caroline Pena. Castro also filed affidavits seeking search warrants for data from cell phones belonging to Diaz and her two co-defendants.
Castro began investigating the case on the afternoon of June 25, after police officers were called to the emergency room at Val Verde Regional Medical Center for a reported stabbing.
The victim of the stabbing, Pena, was transferred to a hospital in San Antonio, where she died.
Witnesses who spoke to police at the hospital in Del Rio said Pena was stabbed in an altercation in the 800 block of East Tenth Street.
Officers went to the 800 block of East Tenth Street and spoke to Kyandra Renee Faz, 22, a resident of 803 E. 10th St. Faz told police Pena “had arrived at her residence looking to start a fight.”
Faz also told police two of her friends, whom she identified to police as Amaya Diaz and her sister, Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, arrived shortly after Pena.
During the altercation between the four women, “a knife was brandished and utilized to stab (Pena),” Castro wrote in his report on the incident.
The two Diaz sisters and Faz were arrested and each of them was charged with the offense of murder, a first-degree felony. Kitty Diaz was also charged with the offense of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.
Castro, in his affidavit for the DNA search warrant, asked for permission to collect buccal (cheek) swabs, saliva and a blood sample from Amaya Diaz.
Castro filed his “Officer’s Return of Search Warrant for the Seizure of the DNA of Amaya Cookie Diaz” after collecting the samples he had requested on July 14.
Castro also filed affidavits for search warrants for “complete data extraction” from the cell phones belonging to the Diaz sisters and Faz, which are in the possession of police.
Castro wrote he is looking for names and phone numbers stored on the phones, incoming and outgoing calls, incoming and outgoing text messages, voice memos, voice mail, recorded memos and notes, all images and photos, emails and social media accounts.
Castro noted the search warrants for the cell phone data were executed on July 13.
On July 22, Kitty Diaz appeared in 83rd Judicial District Court with her attorney. Diaz’s attorney, Natasha Torres of San Antonio, petitioned the court for a reduction in her client’s bond, which was granted.
Kitty Diaz’s bond was reduced from $5,050,000 to $2,000,000.
As of Friday afternoon, all three women remained behind bars at the GEO Detention Center.
Court documents show on Wednesday, the district attorney’s office received a letter from attorney Thomas J. Lane, of the San Antonio law firm of Hunter, Lane & Jampola.
The letter reads as follows:
“This letter is to inform you that I am representing Kyandra Renee Faz in the matter of an ongoing pre-indicted murder investigation. As she is now represented by counsel, you are not to contact her directly or indirectly by any means. Any contact you wish to have with her shall be through my office. At this time, my client does not want to answer any questions or make any statements.”
The letter was placed in Faz’s file on Thursday.
As of Friday morning, there were no court settings scheduled in the cases.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
