Ariel García, a 4-year-old boy of Hispanic origin who was savagely murdered by his own mother in Washington state in March, received at least 41 stab woundsaccording to court documents that were recently released.
The mother of the minor, Janet Garcia, 27, was charged with first-degree murder Friday in the death of her sonin Everett, Washington, on March 27.
Court documents obtained by Fox 13 initially identified 16 “sharp wounds,” but an autopsy determined there were 41 stab wounds in total.
At Garcia’s arraignment on Monday, prosecutors argued that the number of stab wounds demonstrated that the attack on Ariel was “prolonged.” Besides, The autopsy indicated that the child died of “homicidal violence”the Everett Herald reported.
Charging documents also said Garcia had relapsed into methamphetamine.
On March 27, Garcia’s roommate discovered a blood stain in his apartment and alerted local police.
The Washington State Patrol issued an endangered missing person alert for Ariel in the early hours of March 28, shortly after he was last seen. While the Everett Police Department launched a regional search effort involving nearly 100 officers, agents and investigators from multiple jurisdictions, including the FBI.
Shortly before 6 pm on Thursday, March 28, after an hours-long search, Everett police were notified that a body had been located along an interstate highway in Pierce County. Detectives went to the scene and were able to confirm that the deceased was Ariel.
Detectives initially indicated that Ariel’s body was wrapped in a blanket and that there were about 16 slash wounds to the front of her body, as well as a cluster of wounds to her upper back.
Surveillance footage captured Garcia carrying a “small child-sized object” wrapped in a blanket.
Legal battle for the custody of Ariel García
Just days before the brutal murder of the 4-year-old boy, his grandmother requested “emergency minor guardianship,” alleging that the boy’s mother had “a long history of alcohol and substance abuse that has worsened in recent months.”
According to court documents obtained by the station, Garcia and her mother, Ariel’s grandmother, had been arguing over text messages because the defendant could not see her children.
The boy’s grandmother also requested emergency custody of Garcia’s other son, Ariel’s 7-year-old half-brother, the same day Ariel was reported missing.
The charging documents said that during the investigation, Relatives said they observed Garcia being “physically and verbally aggressive” toward her two young children.
When investigators spoke to the 7-year-old boy after his mother’s arrest, he said Garcia had been “hurting him a lot” and that she was “too aggressive with him,” according to court documents.
Garcia remains in the Snohomish County Jail, held on $3 million bail. If she is convicted, she faces life in prison.
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