What we know so far about the death of 4-year-old Ariel Garcia
A grandmother was granted emergency custody of her 4-year-old grandchild just days before the child was reported missing and later found dead, court documents reveal. The child’s mother was recently arrested for his murder.
EVRETT, Wash. – The mother of a boy who was found dead repeatedly lied to police and stabbed her son over 16 times, according to court documents.
Janet Garcia, 27, is charged with first-degree and second-degree murder, as well as assault of a child.
Police say Garcia used a sharp force object to kill her son, Ariel, and attempted to flee south.
Court documents state that police were initially called to an apartment that Janet and Ariel had been staying at, where the homeowners noticed a large amount of blood on the floor.
Police arrived at the apartment and cut out the carpeting, where they found the blood had seeped into the carpet padding and onto the subflooring, leading them to believe a serious injury had occurred.
Police say Ariel’s grandmother won emergency custody over him just days prior to him going missing.
In a text message conversation between Janet and another woman, Janet said Ariel fell, and he took him to the hospital.
It was later revealed that Janet was in a group home in Ridgefield, where police later contacted her.
Court documents state that Janet’s story was filled with inconsistencies, first saying that Ariel fell from his bed, but later said that he jumped and fell.
Janet also told police that she tried checking Ariel into two hospitals, but later left him at a friend’s house, though she couldn’t remember the house, court docs say.
Police said they noticed what appeared to be blood on Janet’s clothes, including spots on the back of her shirt and small droplet marks on her shoes.
The FBI used Janet’s phone to track her movements, which led them to an area south of I-5 and north of 47th Avenue SW near Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
After a short time, agents discovered Ariel’s body wrapped in a blanket in the area. Police said there were around 16 sharp-force wounds to the front of his body, as well as a cluster of wounds to his upper back.
Janet Garcia will be in court Monday at 1 p.m.
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