In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m examining the heartbreaking murder of 32-year-old Caroline Piña Cairo, a mother of five whose life was taken in a brutal daylight attack that stunned the Del Rio, Texas community. When Caroline arrived at the hospital suffering from multiple stab wounds, medical teams fought to save her life. Despite their efforts, she later succumbed to her injuries. Three women were arrested and charged with her murder, but many questions surrounding the case remain unanswered as the investigation continues. As a forensic death investigator and former emergency room nurse, I walk through what happens in the critical moments after a stabbing victim arrives at the hospital, why injuries like these can be far more severe than they first appear, and how investigators begin reconstructing a violent crime through witness statements, surveillance footage, forensic evidence, and medical findings. I also discuss why it’s so important to separate verified facts from speculation while a case is still unfolding. But more than anything, I want to remember Caroline. She wasn’t simply the victim in a headline. She was a mother, a friend, and someone remembered for her generosity and the kindness she showed others, even during difficult times in her own life. Behind every investigation is a family whose world has been forever changed, and five children who will grow up without their mother. This episode contains discussion of homicide, stabbing violence, and death. Listener discretion is advised. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: 00:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.  00:24 Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. So happy that you could listen. I was reached by a few people this week who are new listeners and many of them are friends that have been mine forever and just never really had a chance to listen.  00:48 I appreciate that so much and I love the input. I do have a couple of engagements coming up speaking on some other podcasts. And once those take place, I will let you know when those are going to air and give you a little more information.  01:04 I’m just going to kind of get going with the story this week. I hope that everyone had a great and safe 4th of July. I know that when I worked at the medical examiner’s office, it was always a dangerous weekend.  01:18 And I can remember when I first started, I was working every Sunday and Sundays were the worst. Statistically, we had more deaths on Sundays than any other day of the week. A lot of drownings on holiday weekends.  01:35 Hopefully everyone was safe. I don’t think that I’ve heard of any drownings, but I’m sure there were, just because it’s such a dangerous time of year. I don’t know about y’all, but last year when I got in the lake, no, it was year before.  01:49 Last year I was on a cruise. Year before last, when I got in the lake, a dead fish and a dirty diaper literally floated up next to me. And I think that’s the day I decided I really don’t love lake water.  02:04 And I don’t like swimming in the ocean either. I don’t want stuff swimming past me, and I need to know what’s in the water underneath me. Many years ago, I went to Jaws on the water and it was in Austin, Lake Travis, and it was pretty cool.  02:23 I mean, we watched Jaws on the big screen while we were floating in the lake. And they did hire divers that came in and they would brush against everyone’s leg. And of course, some of the younger girls didn’t know.  02:37 And so there was a lot of screaming and carrying on, but it was a lot of fun because I knew. But I mean, these days, you know, you hear all these stories of alligators in the lakes and a lot of alligator attacks, they’re super scary.  02:50 I mean, there was one recently in Florida, and I’m sure they happen every day in Florida and in certain areas of the world where there’s a huge alligator and crocodile population, but we’re not used to that in Texas.  03:02 So, I know there have been some sightings of some alligators in some nearby lakes, and I personally do not have time to get rolled by one. I don’t get into the lakes. But anyway, I want to talk a little bit about a case.  03:18 It’s recent, it’s raw, it’s actually still developing. It’s a story that people are calling the Cookie and Kitty Diaz case. But before we say their names again, we need to say the victim. This is Caroline Piña Cairo.  03:36 And she was a 32-year-old mother of five, a woman who, according to the people who loved her, gave even when she had very little left to give. So, this happened June 25th, 2026, in Del Rio. Caroline Piña was attacked in broad daylight, not in the dark, not hidden where no one could see, not anywhere remote.  04:05 This happened near one of the busiest roads in town. So, in the 800 block of East 10th Street, near a sonic, according to local reports, it happened in the middle of the day. People are out, cars are moving around, driving around, life’s going on.  04:24 And then suddenly there’s this woman bleeding from multiple stab wounds. Now, by a little after 2 p.m., Del Rio police were called to the Valvarde Regional Medical Center, and Carolyn had arrived there with injuries so severe that she needed emergency care beyond what that hospital could provide.  04:46 So, she was transported to San Antonio. And