Foster Care Teen Charged With Murder of a University of Texas Woman

“The 17-year-old charged with the murder of a UT student spoke of an unstable childhood and abuse in the foster care system in a 2014 school newspaper article.

Meechaiel Criner, then a sophomore at Texas High School in Texarkana, was profiled in the Tiger Times in an article titled “Voice of Hope.”

“I’ve been bullied almost my whole life,” Criner said in the article. Criner also spoke of being placed in the foster care system, and said he was a victim of physical violence while in a home.

Julie Moody with Texas Department of Family and Protective Services confirmed to KVUE on Friday that Criner is still in foster care. Killeen police listed him as a runaway on March 24.

After authorities found Criner in an abandoned building on April 4, he was taken to LifeWorks, an Austin youth shelter.

Criner was arrested Thursday afternoon on suspicion of tampering with evidence and charged with murdering Haruka Weiser on Friday. Bond has been set at $1 million.

Go here to read the Tiger Times issue (article appears on page 12).”

UT murder suspect spoke of foster care abuse in article [KVUE 4/8/16]

“The homeless teen accused of killing a University of Texas freshman has a fiery temper and has long struggled with mental health issues, his grandmother said.

Meechaiel Criner, the 17-year-old charged with murder in the death of dance major Haruka Weiser, was a smart and respectful child — until you crossed him, his family said.

“If you made him mad, he snapped. His temper — he snapped real fast” the grandmother, who was not identified, told KSLA. “The least little thing somebody did to him to make him mad, he would snap.”

Criner was arrested Thursday after police found him at an Austin homeless shelter with Weiser’s duffle bag and laptop. The dancer’s body was found in a creek on the Austin campus Tuesday.

The teen’s grandma hasn’t seen him since last August when he ran away from her Texarkana home. He had been prescribed medication to help calm his rage-filled temperament, but he likely wasn’t taking it while living away from home, she said.

“He’s real intelligent, but he has a problem. He talks to himself and he walks back and forth like he’s fighting,” she said.

Criner’s older sister also said he long suffered from mental health issues — but she said her little brother isn’t capable of murder.

“He’s slow on a lot of things. It takes him longer to pick up than the average person, but he’s not slow enough to say I’m going to kill this person and take her purse and carry it with me,” the sister, who asked not to be identified, told ABC 13. “No one is that slow. Meechaiel is not that slow. Meechaiel is not that crazy to do that.”

Criner’s sister, a 23-year-old law student living in Houston, said the teen was supposed to be in the custody of Texas Child Protective Services. He was placed in an Austin group home after he ran away from his grandma’s, but eventually escaped from the state-run home, too, his sister said.

“How would you possibly let a 17-year-old mentally-issued child out of your system for that long?” she asked, adding that the Texas agency is to blame for Criner’s escape. “It’s not a hidden fact he had mental issues.””

The sister did not elaborate on her brother’s mental health issues, but said he had a rough childhood.

A 2014 article in a Texarkana high school publication featured a Meecchaiel Criner who described being bullied and difficulties in foster care as a child, saying, “What I want to leave behind is my name — I want them to know who Meechaiel Criner is.”

Weiser, an Oregon native, was last seen leaving the campus drama building Sunday night. Her body was found Tuesday in a creek near the alumni center and UT’s iconic football stadium. Her autopsy showed she had been assaulted, but police have refused to release further details about how she died.”

After discovering the freshman’s body, police released surveillance video that showed a man they said was a suspect walking a women’s bicycle. Firefighters later recognized the man as Criner, whom they had spoken to in connection with a trash fire near the UT campus on Monday.

Criner wasn’t arrested for the fire but was instead taken to a shelter. Police found him there Thursday and took him into custody without incident.

The suspected killer was charged with murder Friday. He is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Weiser’s family said she had planned to take on a second, pre-med major soon and to travel to Japan this summer to see relatives. In a statement Friday, it said “we are relieved to hear” an arrest had been made.

“We remain steadfast in our desire to honor Haruka’s memory through kindness and love. Not violence,” the family said.

Criner’s sister said she’s not sure who killed the dance student — but she knows it wasn’t her brother.

“My condolences go out to the Weiser family. I am greatly, deeply sorry this happened. I’m deeply sorry but I assure you Meechaiel Criner did not do this,” she said.”

Grandma of homeless teen accused in University of Texas freshman’s murder says he had bad temper, mental issues: ‘If you made him mad, he snapped’ [NY Daily News 4/9/16 by Meg Wagner]

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