A series of text messages connected to a 17-year-old Texas high school senior who was found dead the day after prom suggest she may have died from an overdose, investigators say.
Jacqueline Gomez was found dead Saturday in a room at the same Houston hotel where Aldine ISD's MacArthur High School had its prom the night before, the Houston Chronicle reported. Gomez was found by her prom date, whose name has not been released, at around 9:20 a.m.
The text messages, which were traced back to her date, were exchanged between the date and Gomez's friend for seven hours after he called 911.
"I woke up. I tried waking her but she wouldn't," the date texted along with four frowning faces, the Chronicle reported. "I was screaming and crying telling her to wake up. But she didn't. She didn't," he texted with two frowning faces.
He told police that he and Gomez had alcohol. But according to a text he sent the friend, Gomez had also taken the painkiller hydrocodone. He told the friend he did not know where Gomez got the drugs from, the newspaper reported.
The date texted that Gomez seemed "happy" when they went to sleep after their "Miami Night" prom.
"I shoulda took them away and flushed em. I miss my girl," read his text sent with a crying, frowning face, the newspaper reported.
Houston Police Department Detective Mike Miller said they do not suspect the date is responsible for Gomez's death.
"He was there. He knows everything, so we're just continually wanting to find out what happened and everything," Miller told KHOU-TV. "We have no reason to believe he contributed to her death."
Investigators are also waiting until the Harris County medical examiner completes the autopsy, which is expected to take a few weeks, the Chronicle reported.
