SAN ANTONIO — The boyfriend of a Trinity University student who died in October 2017 has been charged with murder.

Mark Philip Howerton, 22, is charged with aggravated sexual assault and murder in the death of Cayley Mandadi.

According to the affidavit, on Oct. 29, 2017, Howerton took 19-year-old Mandadi to the Seton Edgar B. David Hospital in Luling and told hospital staff she stopped breathing.

Howerton told police they were attending the Mala Luna Festival in San Antonio, they were drinking heavily and taking “Molly,” an illegal recreational drug. The two got into an argument about an ex-boyfriend at the festival and left to discuss the argument in his car. He then told police Mandadi agreed to go to Houston with him and planned to drop out of college to be with him.

Howerton then told police the two stopped at a Valero gas station and had “make-up sex” in his car. He said Mandidi passed out in the passenger seat and began to snore. He notice she stopped breathing and attempted to perform CPR before taking her to the hospital.

At the hospital, tests showed Mandadi had no brain activity and was likely brain dead. On Oct. 30, 2017, a medical forensic examination was conducted. Photos of the exam showed Mandadi was covered head to toe with red marks, bruises and scratches. Both her eyelids were swollen and her right eye could not close. She also suffered injuries consistent with physical and violent sexual assault. On Oct. 31, she was taken off of life support and declared deceased.

During an autopsy the medical examiner observed bruises to Mandadi’s face, ear and mouth as well as a subdural hematoma to the victim’s brain and determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Howertown has a history of violence against Mandadi, according to roommates and friends. Roommates told police Howerton destroyed her dorm room and threatened to throw her off the balcony. Trinity University police filed a criminal trespass warning against him barring him from Trinity University campus for one year, after he allegedly destroyed Mandadi’s dorm room.

Mandadi told her roommates he blamed his behavior on “roid rage.” When police interviewed friends of Howerton, they said he was known to sell anabolic steroids.

Howerton turned himself in at the Bexar County Jail on warrants. His bail is set at $250,000.