Suspect in death of Trinity University cheerleader arrested on charges of murder, sexual assault

Cayley Mandadi, Trinity University cheerleader, died in 2017 after police say she was sexually abused and beaten. A new statewide alert system may help prevent other such tragedies. Cayley Mandadi, Trinity University cheerleader, died in 2017 after police say she was sexually abused and beaten. A new statewide alert system may help prevent other such tragedies. Photo: /Courtesy Of Trinity University Photo: /Courtesy Of Trinity University Image 1 of / 180 Caption Close Suspect in death of Trinity University cheerleader arrested on charges of murder, sexual assault 1 / 180 Back to Gallery

A 22-year-old man was jailed Wednesday in connection with the death of Cayley Mandadi, a 19-year-old Trinity University cheerleader who died Halloween 2017 after falling unconscious in a car traveling to Houston.

Mark Howerton faces charges of murder and sexual assault.

The arrest comes about four months after Mandadi, who is from the Houston area, was pronounced dead on Oct. 31 at the Seton Medical Center Hays in Kyle, Texas. Until Wednesday, few details about her death had been made public. But an arrest warrant affidavit for Howerton, her boyfriend of four weeks, has shed new light on the hours leading up to Mandadi's death.

The warrant describes injuries Mandadi sustained that don't match Howerton's version of events.

READ ALSO: Affidavit provides detailed timeline of what allegedly happened the night West Texas college student disappeared

According to the documents, the couple had spent the weekend partying with ecstasy and alcohol at the Mala Luna music festival in San Antonio. On the second day of the festival, Oct. 29, they got into a spat when they saw Mandadi's ex-boyfriend at the festival. They left and went to Howerton's car to talk things over.

Howerton told authorities that once the argument ended, Mandadi agreed to go to Houston with him, though the arrest affidavit written by the Texas Rangers notes that none of her possessions, other than the clothing she was apparently wearing that day, were found in his car during the investigation, indicating she had not packed for the trip. Howerton later told investigators he planned on buying her everything she needed, the affidavit says.

On the way to Houston, Howerton claimed the couple stopped at a Valero gas station and had "rough" make up sex, which included hair pulling, light choking and scratching. Afterwards, Mandadi reportedly said she wasn't feeling well and began sleeping in the front seat without her clothes on. Howerton drove on to Houston, according to the affidavit.

As he entered Luling, Howerton said he noticed she wasn't breathing, so he started performing CPR, then detoured to a nearby hospital.

When first responders saw her, she was unresponsive, nude from the waist down, covered in bruises on her neck and thigh and showed signs of sexual trauma, according to the affidavit. Photos taken by Luling police indicate Howerton's knuckles were red "in a manner consistent with someone punching someone else" and he had scratches on his forearms, authorities said.

Mandadi was pronounced brain dead on Oct. 30.

A medical exam showed her injuries were not consistent with Howerton's description of what happened, according to the affidavit.

Mandadi was covered "from head to toe" with red marks, bruises and scratches, according to the affidavit. Both of her eyelids were swollen and bruised.

"The only areas of [Mandadi] with no evidence of injury were her back and the back of her legs," the affidavit says.

Such injuries did not line up with Howerton's claim of "rough sex," notes the arrest affidavit. They line up with "physical and violent sexual assault."

On Oct. 31, Mandadi was taken off life support and died. The medical examiner's officer later determined her cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head.

Her family released a statement Wednesday afternoon thanking the Texas Rangers and Beth Smith, a Hays County justice of the peace.

"We remain utterly devastated by the loss of Cayley. We ask people of faith to pray for her family, friends, and for justice in this case," they said.

RELATED: Trinity University shocked by cheerleader's mysterious death

From the beginning, the news of her death shocked the campus. A photo of Howerton had circulated on students' social media accounts for months, labeled "the face of a killer" based on alleged previous violent incidents directed at Mandadi, though authorities never publicly named him as a suspect before he was charged Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the university issued a statement saying the focus would remain on Mandadi's life on campus.

"She was an exuberant, curious and engaged classmate, friend and student, a Communication major who deeply loved her Chi Beta Epsilon sorority sisters and teammates on the Trinity Cheer team," Spokeswoman Sharon Schweitzer. "Our focus continues to be on helping Cayley's friends, classmates and faculty heal from her loss."

During the investigation, Texas Rangers spoke with multiple sorority sisters of Mandadi, as well as her ex-boyfriend and her roommate. All of them said Mandadi had told them Howerton had previously physically abused her and threatened her.

In late September, Howerton trashed Mandadi's dorm room, friends told authorities. On that occasion, Howerton allegedly put Mandadi in his car and began driving to Houston.

"Eventually, [Howerton] did return [Mandadi] to San Antonio, but only after purchasing her items to replace those [Howerton] damaged or destroyed in her room," the affidavit says.

He later blamed the incident on "roid rage." One of Howerton's friends told authorities he had previously purchased steroids from him. Another friends told authorities that Howerton sold steroids to several students at Trinity University, according to the affidavit.

The witnesses also accused Howerton on various occasions of slamming Mandadi's head into a car window, waving a gun in her face and threatening to throw her off a balcony.

Trinity University issued an alert about criminal trespass warning on Nov. 1, barring Howerton from campus for a year.

On Jan. 12, Texas Rangers spoke with a friend of Howerton's, who told them Howerton had confided to him that he had "lied to the police, had 'very rough' sex in a mall parking lot with [Mandadi] that night, where he choked and slapped" her. He also allegedly told the friend that he didn't know how long she had not been breathing, and that police had never found his burner phone, which he had hidden inside a planter, when he turned over Mandadi to the hospital.

The Texas Rangers obtained an arrest warrants for Howerton on Feb. 26. Two days later he was booked into the Bexar County Jail. If convicted, Howerton faces up to life in prison.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns