Authorities in Texas have arrested a 17-year-old homeless man in association with the death of college student Haruka Weiser.
Weiser, 18, was from Beaverton. She was a first year theater and dance student at the University of Texas.
Police said it's the first on-campus killing at the University of Texas in five decades.
Meechaiel Criner was arrested after a woman called police to say he fit the description of a person who started a trash fire Monday night. Criner had been taken to a shelter and was arrested there without incident.
Police said Criner had a blue bag and a bike that appeared to belong to Weiser.
Chief Art Acevedo with the Austin Police Department said the department will be charging Criner with her murder, “We don’t know what the actual motive was. At some point, we hope to determine that. And obviously as the investigation continues we anticipate there’ll be further charges filed on the suspect.”
Weiser was found Tuesday in a creek near the campus alumni center and football stadium. Investigators are treating her slaying as a homicide.
Campus President Greg Fenves called it a “horrifying and incomprehensible crime” calling the “unthinkable brutality against Haruka … an attack on our entire family.”
Contributing: The Associated Press