Friends Mourn, Remember Downtown Murder Victim

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Friends of the young woman murdered in a downtown apartment gym are mourning the loss, WTHR reports. Patch reported 23-year-old Carina Rodriguez was found dead Friday morning inside the 9 on Canal apartment gym, and Cody Weir, 25, or Avon is accused in the woman's traumatic death. According to WTHR, Rodriguez's friends say she was a good-hearted person, and say it's not surprising the young woman - and mother - would open the locked gym door for a man attempting to get inside.

Friends of Rodriguez are trying to make sense of why someone would stab and kill the medical assistant student, saying Rodriguez would have turned 24 at the end of the month, one day after her son will turn one.

WTHR reports friends of Rodriguez say she followed her boyfriend to Indianapolis and enrolled in classes for a medical assistant's degree, and was focused on her family and studies.

RELATED: Gym Murder Suspect Sexted Woman After Killing: Report

The man at the center of this case, Weir, was arrested on a preliminary murder charge after the killing, which police say took place inside the apartment complex gym in the 300 block of West 9th Street.

According to WTHR, Rodriguez's friends said maybe she thought the man didn't have a key.

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Police said Weir was arrested Friday night after Rodriguez was found dead with what police described as "signs of trauma" in the complex's second-story gym.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released a surveillance video containing what they say are images of Weir, a person of interest at the time the video was released.

More information: Indianapolis Patch, wthr.com

Photo credit: IMPD