US4 min(s) read
Published 12:08 30 Jun 2026 GMT
A Texas mother of five desperately fought for her life after she was allegedly ambushed and repeatedly stabbed by two sisters and a friend in broad daylight, according to a close friend who described the horrifying attack.
Caroline "Caro" Peña, 32, was allegedly attacked by sisters Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, and Amaya "Cookie" Diaz, 19, along with their 21-year-old friend Kyandra Renee Faz, at around 2PM on Thursday in Del Rio, Texas. The three women have been charged with murder and are being held on a combined $15 million bail.
As Peña was rushed to a local hospital, a chilling photo allegedly taken during the attack appeared on a local Facebook page before later being deleted. The image became the first sign to Peña's longtime friend, Zelina Ochoa, that something terrible had happened.
The now deleted image allegedly showed Peña standing as blood soaked through the back of her pink shirt while the three accused women surrounded her.
"It’s a photo of her standing up and you see the back side of her, and her shirt in the back is completely filled with blood," Ochoa told the New York Post.
Meanwhile, "the three girls are in front of her, they’re surrounding her," Ochoa said.
The stay-at-home mother, whose children range in age from 17 to 3 and include two with special needs, fought back despite having no weapon.
"She had just collapsed and she stood right back up," Ochoa said. "She was a fighter."
"It’s a very powerful picture because it shows, you know, these three girls showed up with their weapons and Caro showed up with nothing but her hands," she added.
"She didn’t show up there thinking that today is my last day."
According to Ochoa, comments from people who said they witnessed the stabbing suggested there was little warning before violence broke out.
"Where this incident occurred, it’s a very busy intersection. It’s on the main street of our town, so there were a lot of passersby," she explained.
Additionally, "This wasn’t something that was done in an alley at 12AM this was done in broad daylight on the busiest intersection at the corner of Sonic."
Based on those witness accounts, "there was really no verbal altercation" before the attack and "it went from 0 to 100 very quickly," Ochoa recalled.
"It confused a lot of people because it happened so quick and everybody was like, ‘Wait, hold on, what did we just witness?’" she added.
Police have not released a motive for the killing.
Ochoa said Peña, whom she met when they were both teen moms, was devoted to her children and avoided conflict.
"Caro was not the type to go to the clubs or be involved in any type of altercation or drama or anything like that, that’s just not who she was," Ochoa said.
"She was that one friend that tried to bring peace among everyone, so it’s just so confusing how this even happened."
"I don’t know if it was just an unlucky day and she happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t know. I really don’t know," she lamented.
Ochoa also questioned why one of the accused women, who she said is also a mother, would allegedly take another children's parent away.
"It’s very unclear as to why a mother would do this to another mother and why she herself wouldn’t consider her own son," she said.
"She’s still gonna see her son grow up through the glass and Caro’s kids are only gonna have a tombstone."
A GoFundMe created to support Peña's children, two of whom are autistic according to the fundraiser, has currently raised more than $5,000.
Remembering her friend, Ochoa said: "She was one of those people that were born to be a mom…she made it look so easy."
"Everyone says your kids love you, but her kids really love her. She wasn’t just their mom, she was their friend…her life was her children."
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