A quiet afternoon in a Texas border town fractured in seconds. You don't expect a brutal, fatal confrontation to unfold right next to a busy fast-food joint, but that's exactly what happened in Del Rio.
On Thursday, June 25, 2026, Caroline Peña, a 32-year-old mother of five known to her friends as "Caro," was confronted on East 10th Street. By the time the violence stopped, she was bleeding heavily from multiple stab wounds. She died hours later. Police quickly tracked down and arrested three young women, including two sisters, charging them all with murder.
The shockwave from this broad-daylight attack is still tearing through the local community, leaving behind a trail of grief, graphic social media footage, and deeply uncomfortable questions about why nobody stepped in to stop it.
What Happened on East 10th Street
The Del Rio Police Department received a call around 2:10 p.m. from the Val Verde Regional Medical Center. Staff reported a female patient arriving with severe stab wounds. Investigators quickly traced the crime scene back to the 800 block of East 10th Street, a heavily trafficked area near a local Sonic drive-in.
Peña had been stabbed multiple times. According to police reports and local accounts, she took two deep puncture wounds to her back, one of which pierced her lung, alongside a third wound to her stomach.
Medical teams at Val Verde stabilized her well enough to talk, allowing her to share final moments with her closest friends. Because her injuries were so critical, she was airlifted to a specialized trauma hospital in San Antonio. She fought hard, but her body gave out. Investigators were notified that she passed away around 9:00 p.m. that same night.
The Swift Arrest of the Three Suspects
Del Rio police didn't take long to track down the women allegedly holding the weapons. Using a combination of local surveillance footage and eyewitness interviews, officers identified three suspects within hours of the stabbing.
By 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, police located and arrested two sisters: 21-year-old Kitty Mia Diaz and 19-year-old Amaya “Cookie” Diaz. Shortly after, officers tracked down their friend, 21-year-old Kyandra Renee Faz. All three young women face first-degree murder charges.
Local news footage caught the moment police escorted the Diaz sisters out of a home in handcuffs. They were booked at the Del Rio Police Department before being moved to the GEO Correctional Facility, where they remain locked up awaiting magistration. Investigators are still keeping tight-lipped about the exact motive, and they haven't ruled out piling on more charges as the grand jury reviews the evidence.
The Complicity of the Digital Crowd
What makes this tragedy stick in the throat of local residents is how publicly it played out. This wasn't an ambush in a dark alleyway. It happened right out in the open on one of the busiest roads in Del Rio.
Even worse, images and videos of the fight started circulating on local community pages before police had even sorted through the crime scene. One particularly haunting photo showed Peña standing her ground in a heavily bloodstained pink shirt, completely surrounded by three young women.
Her best friend of eight years, Christina Salinas, found out about the attack because of those digital uploads. She recognized the bun in Peña's hair and the back of her shirt instantly. The community is furious that bystanders chose to pull out their phones and record the violence rather than intervene or call for help earlier. The graphic posts have since been scrubscribed from major platforms, but the emotional damage to the family is already done.
The Reality for Five Kids Left Behind
While the legal system prepares to process the three suspects, the real, permanent damage lands squarely on Peña's children. Friends describe her as a woman who was quite literally born to be a mother.
Peña started out as a teen mom, attending the local "Cradles in the Classroom" program alongside her childhood friend, Zelina Ochoa. She worked her way up from a tough past, eventually buying her own house and a truck to provide stability for her family. Friends called her "the village" because she was always the one showing up for everyone else's kids, too.
Now, her children are left with a sudden void. The suspects face long prison sentences, but as Ochoa pointed out, those women will eventually see their families again. Peña's kids are left with nothing but a tombstone and memories.
If you have any background info on the relationship between the suspects and the victim, or if you witnessed the confrontation on East 10th Street, reach out directly to the Del Rio Police Department CID unit. Local investigators are still building the timeline, and every piece of native video or eyewitness testimony matters for the upcoming trial.
