Leonor Garcia (WPLG).
Leonor Garcia, 65, is facing charges of child abuse with great bodily harm in Miami. The incident reportedly happened on July 29, 2023, when the girl was under Garcia’s care, according to an arrest affidavit detailing the probable cause.
Garcia contacted the girl’s mother around 8 p.m., claiming the child was hurt while doing cartwheels and needed medical attention. Upon their arrival at the hospital, doctors diagnosed the girl with a subdural hematoma, necessitating immediate surgery to relieve pressure on her brain.
In conversations with detectives, the girl revealed that Garcia allegedly hit her at least 13 times with various objects, including a metal spoon and a remote control, whenever she failed to translate a word correctly from Spanish to English. Garcia reportedly instructed the girl to lie about her injuries, attributing them to a fall during cartwheels.
During her testimony, the girl described the fear she endured, as reported by ABC affiliate WPLG. “I tried to cry, but she would tell me not to because if I cried, she would say she was going to hit me,” the girl recounted. “Once, she threatened me with something like pliers, saying if I told my mother, she would pull my eye out.”
“I tried to cry, but she would tell me not to because if I cried she would tell me she was going to hit me,” the girl testified, according to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate WPLG. “One time she threatened me with, like, pliers, and if I told my mother anything, she was going to pull my eye out.”
In addition to the brain bleed, she also suffered a black eye and bruises on her shoulder. A pediatrician testified the girl’s injuries were not consistent with suffering a fall.
“Our opinion was that it was physical abuse,” Dr. Walter Lambert reportedly told jurors.
Garcia’s trial remains ongoing as of Thursday.
