POTEET, Texas — Holding each other for comfort, and praying at a roadside memorial, relatives of 17-year-old Serenity Rodriguez are desperate for answers about the hours leading up to her death on Tuesday, June 8 at 3:45 a.m.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, two on-duty deputies were traveling along State Highway 16 north of Poteet when the driver hit a pedestrian.
The Medical Examiner's office said that Rodriguez died as a result of multiple blunt force injuries; she was pronounced dead 12 minutes after the crash was reported.
The teen’s aunt, Melissa Torres, said she might be alive today if the same two deputies who found her on a dark, isolated road with an older man, had questioned her about two hours before the fatal encounter.
Torres said “In this day and age when sex trafficking is so high, kids are being taken off the street. You had it right in front of you. You could have saved her life.”
Torres said she has been told the two lawmen encountered Rodriguez walking with a much older man and she believes her niece may have been in trouble and trying to escape.
“We don't know if this guy was some kind of predator and she's trying to escape him,” Torres said, adding that she has been told after deputies spoke to the man, and not the teen, they let the pair walk off into the night. “Why didn't the police say 'You know what? You're a minor. I'm going to detain you and we're going to find your parents.'”
Torres said her niece was a lost child who stayed with different family members at different times, so they don’t know why she was out during the early morning hours in an unfamiliar place.
“They're saying it's her fault because she was out at 3 o'clock in the morning, crossing the street,” Torres said, painfully pointing out that walking on a highway would have been probable cause for deputies to ask more questions of the unlikely pair.
“He's old! You would think a trained police officer would ask the very same questions I am asking now but they have closed ranks and given out little morsels of information. Nobody wants to give us the why,” Torres said.
The family describes the girl as being slight-framed at 5'0" and weighing 110 pounds. They also said she looks much younger than her age.
Torres said the deputy should have known something was wrong but “He did not verify her name, didn't verify her age and he let her wander around and lets her go.”
Torres said she does not believe the deputies acted with malice, but she said their refusal to act had tragic consequences. “I'm not saying it's in cold blood but if he would have just asked the three basic questions every police officer asks you when you are detained, my niece would be alive today,” Torres said.
DPS is investigating the crash, and they have not identified the deputy.
Sgt. Kenny Mata, with DPS, provided the following statement:
On Tuesday, June 8th, 2021, at approximately 3:46 a.m., an on-duty Sheriff's Deputy with the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office was involved in a crash involving a pedestrian. The crash occurred on State Highway 16 north of Poteet. At the request of the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers responded to the crash and are assisting with the crash investigation. At this time, any additional release of information will be coordinated by the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office.
Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward says an administrative review "revealed no wrongdoing on the deputy's part." The sheriff also said his office would not comment further until DPS completed their investigation.
While the family waits for answers, they say the teen’s funeral service will be private.
A GoFundMe to help the family has been established.
But beyond financial help, Torres said they are desperate for anyone with clues about the girl’s final hours to speak up.
“It might be a video. Someone might know who she was with or what she was doing, please, please send us an email. Call the cops! Say something because we want to know who that man is and what he was doing with my 17-year-old niece in the middle of the night,” Torres said.
Torres said “I'm begging! If anyone has any information, has seen anything, knows anything! My family has set up a way to get information to us. It's serenitytipsandinfo@gmail.com.” The non-emergency number for the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office is 830-769-3434.