Rhiana Kemplin, 17, was killed in her Avondale, Arizona, apartment in the early hours of November 8, 2025. A senior at Agua Fria High School and a member of the marching band who played marimba, Rhiana had plans to attend cosmetology school and was remembered by friends and family as warm, loyal, and protective. Her mother woke to the sound of Rhiana’s bedroom door being forced open and encountered a masked male who pointed a firearm at her and fired twice; the gun initially malfunctioned and clicked. Rhiana was found in her bed with a fatal gunshot to the head and a defensive wound to her hand; she was declared brain dead at the hospital and later died of her injuries.

Investigation details focus on Rhiana’s 18-year-old ex-boyfriend, Emilio Andres Rivera, who admitted being at the apartment that night after an argument over his going through her phone and later to slashing the tires of 14 vehicles he thought might be linked to people Rhiana would visit. Items recovered from Rivera’s residence included a handgun belonging to his mother and a black ski mask; ballistics matched the firearm to a shell casing found in Rhiana’s bedroom.

Does anyone have information about Rhiana, her circle, or the events that night that could help investigators?