A 16-year-old girl is facing murder charges after allegedly fatally stabbing an 18-year-old with whom she was feuding on social media over an ex-boyfriend
An 18-year-old Texas teen who went to the home of a younger rival, with whom she had been feuding on social media, was allegedly fatally stabbed in a deadly fight that erupted in the younger teen’s driveway, authorities say.
Kaitlin Leonor Castilleja, 18, of San Antonio, died from stab wounds she sustained after 1 a.m. Friday outside the San Antonio home of a 16-year-old girl who is charged with her murder, the San Antonio Police Department confirms to PEOPLE in a preliminary statement.
Authorities are not identifying the 16-year-old suspect because she is a minor.
An 18-year-old who accompanied Castilleja to the suspect’s house sustained superficial cuts in the attack, say police.
The three had attended James Madison High in San Antonio. The two 18-year-olds graduated last year and the 16-year-old still attends school there, mysanantonio.com reports.
“All this stems from an ex-boyfriend,” Castilleja’s aunt, Marie Fernandez, told the San Antonio Express-News.
Early Friday morning, the suspect allegedly told police she had been assaulted in her driveway when she arrived home from work, police say in the statement.
She said she had gotten “messages on social media that night from two girls stating they want to fight her,” the statement says.
When they got to the suspect’s house, a fight erupted and the suspect allegedly stabbed them both, say police.
Castilleja and her friend told authorities they had been stabbed after “jumping” a girl at her house, the statement says.
Castilleja was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead just before 2 a.m., the statement says.
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For weeks, Castilleja and the suspect had been trading verbal jabs over social media, Fernandez told the Express-News.
Their arguing worsened when Castilleja’s ex-boyfriend began dating the suspect before going back to Castilleja, Fernandez told the Express-News.
Castilleja “isn’t able to give you her side of the story, but it’s been ongoing bullying on both sides,” Fernandez told the Express-News.
“It’s social media,” she told the outlet. “There are so many factors that have contributed to this, and at the end of the day, whether it was wrong, in all aspects my niece had no intentions of hurting anyone.”
The suspect is being held at the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center.
It is unknown whether she has entered a plea or whether she has hired an attorney to represent her.
The investigation is ongoing at this time.
No further information will be released, police say.