Amy Leigh Ayers was a 13-year-old eighth grader from Austin, Texas, described by her father as a true country girl who loved animals and wanted to be a veterinarian. On December 6, 1991, she spent the day at school and later went to a sleepover with friends; she and three other girls—15-year-old Sarah Harbison, Sarah’s sister Jennifer, and Jennifer’s friend Eliza Thomas—were at a yogurt shop where the older girls worked.

Sometime between 11:03 pm and 11:47 pm that night a violent crime occurred. Emergency crews responding to a fire found all four girls bound, gagged with underwear, and naked in a back room. Eliza, Jennifer and Sarah had been stacked, doused with accelerant and set on fire. Amy was found separately, less badly burned, with evidence of sexual assault and shot twice in the head; a .22 round had not penetrated the skull, and a fatal .380 semiautomatic bullet passed through her brain and exited her right cheek.

Investigators concluded multiple perpetrators were involved. Four teenagers were implicated at various points; two men later confessed, were convicted, then had convictions overturned when their DNA did not match crime-scene evidence. No one is currently confirmed responsible and the case remains unsolved. Anyone with information about Amy, her friends, or that night is asked to come forward.