Bio

Adair Javier Garcia lived with his wife, Adriana Ibeth Arreola, and their six children in a neatly kept two-bedroom home in Pico Rivera, a middle-class neighborhood in Los Angeles County, California. Shortly before the murders, the couple separated amid domestic discord; Arreola moved out and had been living elsewhere for about a week, while Garcia remained in the family home with the children.

Murder Story

On the evening of February 19, 2002, Adair Javier Garcia returned to the family home in Pico Rivera with his six children. Prosecutors later said he dressed them in pajamas and recorded them on video telling their mother about their day and saying goodbye. The second part of the recording showed Garcia addressing his wife and blaming her for what he was about to do.

After the recording, Garcia disconnected the smoke detector and phone. Prosecutors described those actions as evidence of premeditation. He then lit charcoal in a three-legged barbecue grill and placed it in the hallway of the home. As the children slept, carbon monoxide filled the house.

The children’s maternal grandmother arrived the next morning and smelled smoke. Emergency responders found several children dead or dying inside the home. CBS News reported that investigators first considered whether the grill had been used for heat, but the case shifted to homicide after authorities found that the home’s gas heating worked and the grill was not needed.

Five children died from carbon monoxide poisoning: Brenda, Jonathan, Vanessa, Cecilia, and Anthony. Garcia and his nine-year-old daughter Kassandra survived. Both were hospitalized. CBS News reported that Garcia was severely injured but expected to recover, and sheriff’s deputies guarded him at the hospital while waiting to question him.

Garcia was charged with murder. At trial, prosecutors argued that he acted out of revenge after his wife left him and that he deliberately planned the deaths. They used the videotape, the purchase of charcoal and matches, and the disconnected smoke detector and phone as evidence of premeditation. The defense argued that Garcia was deeply depressed and could not form the mental state required for first-degree murder.

On March 29, 2005, a Norwalk jury convicted Garcia of five counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for the surviving child. The jury also found special circumstances, including lying in wait, poisoning, and multiple murders, making him eligible for the death penalty.

During the penalty phase, prosecutors sought death. On April 18, 2005, the jury rejected the death penalty and recommended life imprisonment without parole. AP/Fox reporting stated that the jury decided Garcia should receive life without parole rather than execution.

On June 8, 2005, Garcia was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A current public inmate-profile listing identifies him as Adair Javier Garcia, inmate #V86674 , located at CDCR-Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California.