A mother of five who was fatally attacked with a blade — allegedly by two sisters and a friend — fought desperately to survive the brutal daytime assault, a close friend of the victim said.
Sisters Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, and Amaya Cookie Diaz, 19, as well as their 21-year-old friend Kyandra Renee Faz, are jailed on murder charges with combined bail set at $15 million after authorities said they stabbed 32-year-old Caroline “Caro” Peña multiple times around 2 p.m. Thursday in the Texas border community of Del Rio.
As Peña was taken to a nearby hospital, a disturbing image allegedly captured during the attack appeared on a local Facebook page — the first devastating sign for Peña’s longtime friend, Zelina Ochoa, that something horrific had occurred.
The since-removed photo showed Peña still on her feet, refusing to give in, as blood covered the back of her pink shirt — a grim snapshot of the violence she had allegedly already suffered, Ochoa and local reports said.
“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 Post.
At the same time, “the three girls are in front of her – they’re surrounding her,” Ochoa said, describing what she saw as the young accused attackers closing in on Peña.
Peña, a stay-at-home mother whose children range in age from 17 to 3 — including two with special needs — did not give up easily, her friend said.
“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.”
Ochoa, who met Peña when they were both teen moms, said the disturbing photo was swiftly scrubbed from social media after Peña succumbed to her injuries at a San Antonio hospital at around 9 p.m. Thursday.
But during the hours it remained online, alleged witnesses flooded the comment section with accounts of the shocking attack, Ochoa said.
“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 12 a.m. – this was done in broad daylight on the busiest intersection at the corner of Sonic.”
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According to comments from self-described witnesses, “there was really no verbal altercation” before the violence erupted – instead, “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 yet released a motive for the fatal attack – an element of the case that continues to draw blanks from people who knew Peña.
“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 ripped Kitty, whose social media pages show she has her own young son, for allegedly taking Peña away from her five children – the youngest of whom is only a toddler, she said.
“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, referring to the alleged killer.
“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 help support Peña’s children – who of whom are autistic, according to the fundraiser bio – had raised $680 of its $7,500 goal within hours..
But money and even justice for Peña’s death will never be able to fill the gaping hole that will now exist in her children’s lives forever, according to her friend.
“She was one of those people that were born to be a mom…she made it look so easy,” Ochoa said.
“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.”
Kitty, Cookie and Faz were being held in a local jail as of Friday, according to the City of Del Rio Police Department.
The department did not respond to the Post’s inquiries.
