Karinthya Romero
Karinthya Romero
Karinthya Sanchez Romero is 22-year-old woman from Galveston, Texas. Karinthya and her boyfriend Andres Villagomez are infamous for harassing and cyber bullying 18-year-old Brandy Vela until she committed suicide. [undefined]
Suicide of Brandy Vela
Photo of the victim Brandy Vela
On November 29, 2016, Brandy Vela committed suicide, shooting herself in front of her family after being cyber bullied, stalked, and harassed by Karinthya Romero and Andres Villagomez, who was Brandy's ex-boyfriend.
Two days after Vela's suicide, her older sister Jacqueline Vera told KPRC-TV that she was at home when she heard someone crying. "So I ran upstairs and I looked in her room, and she's against the wall and she has a gun pointed at her chest and she's just crying and crying and I'm like, 'Brandy, please don't. Brandy, no."[1]
She said she went to her parents' room, "and I just heard the shot and my dad just yelled, 'Help me.
Help me.
Help me.'"
"I was almost certain that I could persuade her to put that gun down.
It didn't work.
She pulled the trigger," Raul Vela told media after his daughter's death.
Brandy Vela's final cellphone text message to her family was: "I love you so much just remember that please and I'm so sorry for everything."
Arrest (Stalking & Online Impersonation)
On March 16, 2017, Romero was charged with stalking and online impersonation, two felonies punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
When announcing Karinthya Romero's arrest, the Texas City Police Department cited Texas Penal Code § 42.072 for the stalking charge as a third-degree felony. [undefined] Her online impersonation charge was also cited vis-a-vis Texas Penal Code § 33.07. [undefined]
Court documents allege that Karinthya Romero made threatening and harassing phone calls to Brandy Vela on multiple occasions.
In interviews shortly after the suicide, Raul Vela said his daughter changed her cell phone number but her tormentors found her new number.
Romero is also accused of setting up fake Facebook pages in Brandy Vela's name to post content that was embarrassing, intimidating and harassing to the woman.
The indictment charges Villagomez with unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Court documents allege that he provided photographs to be posted on the internet that portrayed Vela in sexually graphic poses - images obtained from Vela that were meant to be private.
Romero is being held on bonds totaling $20,000 ($10,000 for her stalking charge, and $10,000 for her online impersonation charge.
Villagomez is jailed on $2,500 bond.
Galveston County prosecutor Bill Reed said he's not aware of the two having attorneys.