In the tight-knit border city of Del Rio, Texas, the line between ordinary life and unthinkable tragedy was erased in the span of a single afternoon.
On June 25, 32-year-old Caroline “Caro” Peña—a devoted mother of five known for her infectious laugh and boundless generosity—was violently attacked and killed in broad daylight. In the wake of her death, a stunned community has been left to grapple not only with the brazen nature of the crime but also with a deeply haunting final message Peña left behind on social media just days before her life was cut short.
The Midday Ambush
The horror unfolded around 2:10 p.m. on East 10th Street, a bustling stretch of road near a local Sonic drive-through. According to the Del Rio Police Department, what began as a violent confrontation quickly escalated into a deadly assault. Officers were initially dispatched to the Val Verde Regional Medical Center following reports of a woman arriving with multiple catastrophic stab wounds.
Peña had been stabbed twice in the back and once in the stomach. Recognizing the extreme severity of her injuries, medical personnel rushed her to a specialized trauma facility in San Antonio. Despite their exhaustive efforts, the mother of five died later that evening.
The location and timing of the attack sent shockwaves through the community.
“This wasn’t something that happened in a back alley,” longtime friend Zelina Ochoa shared in a tearful interview with CBS affiliate KENS 5. “This happened at the corner near Sonic on one of our busiest roads in broad daylight.”
An Unfathomable Reaction to Murder Charges
As investigators reviewed surrounding surveillance footage and interviewed eyewitnesses, they quickly focused on three suspects: sisters Amaya “Cookie” Diaz, 19, and Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, alongside 21-year-old Kyandra Renee Faz.
According to police reports, the encounter turned fatal when Amaya “Cookie” Diaz brutally stabbed Peña. As the mother lay bleeding on the ground, Kitty Diaz and Faz allegedly joined the assault, continuing to beat her in her final conscious moments. By 4 p.m. that afternoon, authorities had tracked down and arrested all three women without incident. Each has since been charged with first-degree murder.
While the crime itself horrified the town, it was the behavior of the suspects during their arrest that left an indelible mark on local media.
Local journalist Michael Elizondo, who captured the sisters being led from a residence in handcuffs on video, recalled a chilling detail to the New York Post. Instead of showing remorse or anxiety, the younger sister appeared entirely unfazed by the gravity of the cuffs around her wrists.
“That girl was in a happy mood… She was all smiling, goofing off like nothing happened,” Elizondo observed.
The bizarre behavior didn’t stop there. After being secured inside the police cruiser, the teenager continued to treat the arrest as a game. “All of the sudden I see the window go down, and the girl was sticking out her face, sticking out her tongue and goofing off,” Elizondo recalled. Neighbors also informed the journalist that the sisters had been spotted driving recklessly through the residential area earlier that day.
All three suspects are currently being held at the GEO Correctional Facility as the capital investigation moves forward.
The Haunting Premonition
In the quiet aftermath of the tragedy, grieving friends and family members returning to Peña’s digital footprint discovered a post that felt devastatingly prophetic. Only a few days before the fatal encounter, she had taken to Facebook to share a quiet prayer for protection.
“May God protect me from what my eyes don’t see and what my ears don’t hear,” Peña had written.
For those who knew her best, however, her life will not be defined by a tragic post or the horrific manner of her passing. Instead, they are choosing to remember the vibrant woman who poured her entire heart into raising her children and uplifting anyone who crossed her path.
Ochoa, who forged a deep bond with Peña when both were navigating the challenges of being teenage mothers, remembered her as a sanctuary of joy. “She was everybody’s bubbly person. She just had this infectious laugh,” Ochoa said. “If you needed something, and she had it, even if it was her last, she was going to give it to you. She was born to be a mom. So, she really loved to be a mom.”
Childhood friend Lupita Garza echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the profound void Peña’s absence leaves behind in Del Rio. “Caro was one of a kind. She helped everyone who was in need,” Garza shared. “She brought so much light to so many of us, especially her warm hugs and that one-of-a-kind laugh. She always made sure she had a smile on her face everywhere she went.”
As the legal system begins to process the three young women sitting behind bars, a family is left to navigate a world without its cornerstone—remembering a mother who brought light to others, even when the dangers she feared were hiding in plain sight.