Haruka Weiser: Family of slain University of Texas student express relief after suspect's arrest

Family of murder victim pledges to honour her with love, not violence 

David Usborne
New York
Saturday 09 April 2016 15:43 BST
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The family of the young woman said they wanted to honour her memory through kindness and love - not violence
The family of the young woman said they wanted to honour her memory through kindness and love - not violence

The family of an 18-year-old dance student whose body was found in a small stream on campus at the University of Texas at Austin last week is expressing relief after police confirmed an arrest in the case.

“We are very certain that the subject we have in custody ... is responsible for the death of this beautiful young woman,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference on Friday. He identified the suspect as Meechaiel Criner, a 17-year-old homeless man who was not enrolled as a student.

In a statement released late on Friday, the family of the victim, Haruka Weiser, who live in Oregon, said they were “relieved to hear” that an arrest had been made, adding: “We remain steadfast in our desire to honor Haruka's memory through kindness and love. Not violence.”

The body of Ms Weiser was found on Tuesday in a stream that runs near the main athletics stadium and the alumni centre right in the middle of campus. Police said she had been killed last Sunday evening while walking with her bicycle from the main drama facility to her dormitory building.

The killing sent shockwaves through one of the biggest university communities in the United States with 50,000 students concentrated on a sprawling campus that is barely a mile from the Texas Capitol buildings and Austin’s bustling downtown neighbourhood.

Meechaiel Criner has been arrested on suspicion of the young woman's memory (Austin Police Department )

The president of the University of Texas, Greg Fenves, called it “horrifying and incomprehensible” and said that the additional security he had ordered in the wake of the discovery of Ms Weiser’s body, including police officers patrolling the campus on horseback, would remain in place for the time being.

“It was unsettling,” Jasmine Chavez, 20, an undergraduate said on Friday. “I feel better now that they've caught the guy.” In recent weeks, the campus has been shaken by controversy following passage by the Texas legislature of a law that will also students at the university to carry guns on campus.

Detectives investigating the death of Ms Weiser were led quickly to Mr Criner thanks to witness tips and footage from campus security cameras that showed the moment she was approached by a suspect pulling what appeared to be “shiny rigid object” from under his clothing. No details about the nature of her death or her injuries have been released. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Prior to the murder, Mr Criner had been approached by the authorities in connection with a small fire started on campus. He had not been charged in the incident but taken to a homeless shelter. It was in the same shelter that police found him on Thursday and placed him under arrest in the murder case. His arrest affidavit said his clothing matched that of the man on the surveillance video and that he was in possession of a women's bike, as well as Ms Weiser's duffel bag.

“We will honour Haruka's life and what she stood for,” Mr Fenves said. “We will take this as an occasion to do as Haruka's parents asked us to do, learn from this and make this a better community and a safer community for everyone.”

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