Left: Zander Tashman (Frisco Police Dept.). Right: Ellyse Suarez (Stonebriar Funeral Home and Cremation Services). Inset: Frisco Commons Park (Neighborhoods.com — YouTube screenshot)
An 18-year-old man in Texas has been arrested and charged with a felony for allegedly helping his 17-year-old girlfriend kill herself by drowning in a local pond last year. Zander Tashman was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count of aiding the suicide of another individual, Ellyse Suarez, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Frisco Police Department, officers on Nov. 20, 2023, responded to a call regarding “suspicious activity” at Frisco Commons Park, which is in the 8000 block of McKinney Road in Frisco, Texas. Frisco is about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they found the body of a 17-year-old girl — later identified as Suarez — in the pond. She was pronounced dead on the scene in what appeared to be a suicide.
Suarez’s cause of death was ultimately determined to be drowning.
“After an exhaustive investigation, evidence collected in the case indicated that 18-year-old Zander Tashman of Frisco aided the deceased, his 17-year-old girlfriend, in committing suicide,” police wrote in the release. “Subsequently, Detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest, and Tashman was taken into custody on February 18, 2024.”
The charge of aiding in the suicide of another is a state jail felony punishable by a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years in a state correctional facility as well as a maximum fine of $10,000.
Police have not released any additional details about the investigation, nor have they explained what evidence led to the arrest of Tashman.
Suarez’s mother, Azucena Massey, spoke with Fort Worth NBC affiliate KXAS and said that while she too was in the dark with regard to the investigation into Tashman, the idea that he was being charged in her daughter’s suicide was disconcerting.
“It’s scary in a way because it makes me question, do I even want to know? Is it going to make me more angry? Because I don’t want to feel angry when I think about my daughter,” Massey told the station, adding that Tashman and her daughter had been dating on and off throughout high school.
Massey said her daughter’s relationship with Tashman was “very meaningful to her,” and something she wanted to “work out so dearly” that it may have led to her making irrational decisions. She also noted that her daughter struggled with depression.
Tashman and his family released a statement through their attorney, Reynie Tinajero, about the arrest, which they claim was not justified.
“Zander (Tashman) and his family wish this horrible tragedy had never taken place either. I’m sorry authorities made a poor and probably emotional choice to blame Zander (Tashman) and to do so in a public way,” the statement read. “We’ll be making our case in a court of law. Zander (Tashman) is an exemplary college student with no prior history of criminal behavior. Zander is innocent.”
