Homeless teen faces murder charge in Texas student's killing

Weiser's autopsy showed she had been assaulted, but police have refused to release further details about how she died, except to say that the route she took from her dorm to the drama building often passed Waller Creek, where her body was found.

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman Julie Moody said Criner "had been in Child Protective Services care" but that she couldn't elaborate on where, for how long, or provide any further details, citing privacy rules and the ongoing criminal investigation.

Police have not released much about Criner's background, though a person with the same name and birthdate is listed in driver's license records as having lived in Texarkana, about 350 miles northeast of Austin.

A 2014 article in a Texarkana high school publication featured a Meecchaiel Criner who described being bullied and difficulties in foster care as a child, saying, "What I want to leave behind is my name — I want them to know who Meechaiel Criner is."

Fenves said increased police patrols on campus, which have included state troopers in cars, on bikes and on horseback, would continue for the time being.

The university said that Weiser's was the first on-campus homicide since former Marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of UT's bell tower on Aug. 1, 1966, and opened fire, killing 14 people and wounding scores of others.