Three Women Charged in Fatal Stabbing of 32-Year-Old Mother of Five in Del Rio, Texas

Three Arrested After Mother of Five Stabbed to Death on Busy Del Rio Street

Caroline Caro Peña, 32, was stabbed multiple times on a public street near the corner by a Sonic restaurant in Del Rio, Texas, on Thursday afternoon. She arrived at Val Verde Regional Medical Center just after 2 p.m. local time. The severity of her wounds required emergency air transport to a medical facility in San Antonio, where she died.

The Del Rio Police Department announced the arrests Friday in a social media post. The three charged are sisters Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, and Amaya Cookie Diaz, 19, along with their associate Kyandra Renee Faz, 21. Formal charges were not detailed in the announcement, and no motive has been given by police as of June 28, 2026.

Officers were initially called to Val Verde Regional Medical Center, then tracked the location of the attack to a specific address in Del Rio, a border city of roughly 35,000 people.

What Witnesses and Friends Say

Peña's childhood friend Zelina Ochoa pushed back on any suggestion this was an isolated or hidden incident. "This wasn't something that happened in a back alley. This happened at the corner near Sonic on one of our busiest roads in broad daylight," Ochoa told San Antonio television station KENS 5.

Ochoa and Peña met as teen mothers in a program called Cradles in the Classroom. Ochoa described Peña as generous to a fault, someone who watched her son during class, gave her baby clothes, a television, a VHS player, and videotapes when she got her first apartment. "If you needed something and she had it, even if it was her last, she'd give it to you," Ochoa said.

Close friend Christina Salinas said she and Peña had spent the night before together, cooking with Peña's daughter. At 1:35 p.m. Thursday, minutes before the confrontation, Peña called Salinas, who missed it.

"I feel like if I would have answered that call, honestly I would have been there with her. It wouldn't have gotten like that," Salinas told KENS 5.

Salinas later saw a photo circulating on a community social media page: a woman in a blood-soaked shirt. "Her hair was in the same bun. When I saw that, that's all I needed to see was the back of her shirt. I knew it was her right off the bat."

She rushed to the hospital, said goodbye to Peña before the airlift, and described her friend as someone who fought. "That girl, she was a fighter. She was still standing her ground."

What Remains Unknown

Peña's family is publicly demanding answers, according to KENS 5 reporting. A daylight attack on a major commercial road with multiple alleged attackers raises questions about whether there was a prior relationship between the victim and the suspects, something police have not addressed.

No court records, prior incidents, or personal connections between Peña and the three charged women have been made public. Whether investigators have established a motive privately but are withholding it ahead of prosecution, or whether the motive is genuinely unknown at this stage, has not been clarified by Del Rio police.

Peña leaves behind five children.

The next concrete step in this case is the formal charging process for Diaz, Diaz, and Faz, which will likely produce specific charges and potentially a motive on record.