Bio

Angela Garcia was born in 1976.

Her name appears in public records, court filings, and newspaper archives. Sources that mention her include The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.com, and filings from Ohio state courts.

Murder Story

Angela Garcia was born in 1976. On November 20, 1999 her daughters Nyeemah Garcia, 3, and Nijah Evans, 2, were pulled from an upstairs bedroom of their Harvard Avenue home in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The children died of smoke inhalation.

Cleveland fire investigators first ruled the blaze accidental and said it was likely started by an unattended candle. A trained dog did not detect accelerants. The home was demolished two days after the fire, and no physical evidence was preserved for lab testing. About a month later, investigators changed the cause after learning Garcia had overvalued items on a renter’s insurance claim.

Authorities charged Garcia, and she was arrested on February 23, 2000. Two juries before the third were unable to reach unanimous decisions. One jury found her guilty of fraudulently overvaluing the contents of her home. At the third trial, a jailhouse witness testified that Garcia said she had set two fires to collect insurance money. On May 30, 2001, Garcia was sentenced to two life terms in prison.

Garcia and her family maintained she was innocent through all three trials. Her attorneys said she passed multiple polygraph tests. A later appeal that focused on trial procedure was not successful. In 2014 her lawyers filed a motion for a new trial, saying modern fire science raises questions about the original investigation. A national fire expert who reviewed the case said the origin of the fire should be considered undetermined. Angela Garcia is first eligible for parole in 2049.