Autopsy reports released from 2020 teen deaths

After being sealed for three years, the autopsies for two teen girls who died in a Nov. 20, 2020 apartment fire, have been made public.

Azalyia Hernandez, 15, and Eliza Maurer, 16, both sophomores at Fredericksburg High School, were found inside the apartment deceased. Smoke inhalation is listed as the cause of both deaths, and the manner of death is undetermined, according to the Feb. 1, 2021 medical examiner report.

Although the two inhaled a fatal amount of carbon monoxide, the reports state, they had no thermal or significant injuries listed, meaning they had no burns from fire. Evidence in the autopsies indicates that they suffered from extreme heat, in addition to smoke, and suffered no trauma.

A Dec. 17, 2020 toxicology report stated Hernandez had no drugs in her system, while Maurer had THC in her system.

Lt. Terry Weed, of the Criminal Investigations Division for the Fredericksburg Police Department, in 2020, said his team heard rumors about the girls being raped and murdered, but they could not be supported. At the time, he said they did not know how many people were in the apartment, but said it was both males and females.

The autopsy states Maurer was wearing only pants and Hernandez was wearing blue jeans and a tank top, in addition to undergarments.

A possible criminal investigation was conducted at the scene in 2020, and FPD detectives were assigned to the case.

FPD investigators still do not know how the early morning fire began. They interviewed and polygraphed numerous witnesses and potential persons of interest in the case.

Mary Saenz, the mother of Maurer’s boyfriend, according to Maurer’s mother, was the renter of the apartment. The lead investigator said she was at work at the time.

According to Vorauer, Hernandez and Maurer were in a bedroom separate from the fire, which happened in the apartment’s living room. The FPD investigation did not determine whether the door of the room was open or not.

Reports state they were laying on their backs. Vorauer said he did not determine whether or not their eyes were open.

The autopsies were sealed because it would “hinder investigation of the case,” Judge Albert D. (Pat) Patillo III said in December 2020.

Vorauer said the documents were sealed because they had not concluded their investigation or “talked to everybody that [they] wanted to talk to and run down all the leads that [they] were working on at that time.”

The State Fire Marshal’s Office concluded that the cause of the fire was undetermined. “So that’s why the medical examiner placed undetermined in manner,” he said.

The case was suspended April 27, 2023. A case is suspended when all potential leads have been exhausted.  An investigation may be reactivated if sufficient new leads are developed, Vorauer said.