Meechaiel Criner, a 17-year-old homeless man, has been named as the lead suspect in the murder of Haruka Weiser, a dance major at the University of Texas-Austin. She was murdered after leaving dance practice on April 3rd. Her body was found in Waller Creek, a creek on the campus of UT-Austin. This is the first on-campus homicide since 1966, the infamous shooting from the clock tower.
Austin Police Chief Art Avedevo told reporters at a press conference that Meechaiel is being charged with murder. He’s certain that more charges will come.
Update–4/8/2016: Austin Police Department just released his mug shot.
It’s unknown at this time what Meechaiel was doing on campus, but the police believe he hasn’t been in the city of Austin for long. They’re also confident that they have their man and that they’ll get to the bottom of the story.
Meechaiel was arrested at Lifeworks, a center that specializes in assisting at-risk individuals and the homeless.
The only photo (pictured above) we have of Meechaiel comes from a news article written about Meechaiel as a homeless youth.
"What I want to leave behind is my name – I want them to know who Meechaiel Criner is." https://t.co/eZ5HwFSqbY pic.twitter.com/obCKaHh2Js
— social distance fan account (@JoelNihlean) April 8, 2016
