Members of Chi Beta Epsilon organized a petal release memorial for their late sister, Cayley Mandadi, on Oct. 24, seven years after her death. Mandadi was a sophomore and a cheerleader when she died at 19 on Oct. 31, 2017, after her ex-boyfriend assaulted her and brought her to the hospital bloodied and bruised two days prior.
At the event, Dana Adams, alumni adviser for Beta, read a speech remembering Mandadi to members in attendance. Beta members Savannah Marks, junior psychology major, and Alexis Clark, sophomore anthropology major, also gave speeches at the event. Afterwards, every member placed carnation petals — their sorority’s flower — in the acequia.
According to Anna McCormack, senior marketing major and Chi Beta Epsilon president, the sorority has put on the event every year since Mandadi’s death. The club likes to have it on Alumni Weekend, so that members who knew her could attend.
“We like to do this in remembrance of her,” McCormack said. The sorority’s philanthropy is the San Antonio Rape Crisis Center, and the memorial also spreads awareness of domestic violence, McCormack said.
Mandadi was born in Webster, Texas on Aug. 26, 1998, according to a Legacy obituary. The obituary described Mandadi as someone who “touched and brightened countless lives with her kind heart, contagious laugh and amazing spirit.” While at Trinity, Mandadi “truly blossomed into a beautiful young woman, inside and out,” the obituary reads.
In memorial coverage from the Trinitonian in 2017, friends said she was “fiercely independent” and “inescapably herself.” Students organized a memorial service for her on Nov. 5, 2017.
“Cayley was and will always be one of the most care free and fierce women I have ever had the pleasure to know,” Shelby Kallus, Beta member and Cayley’s friend, wrote about Cayley. “Her ability to encourage my own self esteem has shaped part of who I am. I will forever be thankful for her influence on me and for our friendship.”
Following her death, Mandadi’s mother, Alison Steele, founded the nonprofit Cayley’s Calling and worked with the Texas government to enact CLEAR Alerts, which is designed for adults between 18 and 65 who have been abducted or are in imminent danger.
Mandadi’s ex-boyfriend, Mark Howerton, was accused by authorities of killing her in 2018, but his trial ended in a hung jury in 2019. He was, however, convicted of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury in connection to her death and sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence for aggravated assault, in June 2023.
Steele filed a civil lawsuit in Bexar County District Court against Howerton and Trinity University in June 2021, accusing Trinity of negligence and deliberate indifference under Title IX, among other claims, and Howerton of assault, rape, negligence, among other claims. Steele stopped pursuing her claims and voluntarily dismissed the suit in October 2024, according to the court docket.
*Tess Gagliano is a contributing reporter for this article.
