A compassionate grandmother in California was left fighting for her life after a stranger she had invited into her home allegedly attacked her with a metal baseball bat.
Therese Garcia, 71, was on her porch in Crestline last month when 26-year-old Erik Eduardo Navarro approached and said he had been robbed of all his belongings while camping, according to Garcia’s daughter, Abbie, who told NBC Los Angeles. Navarro also claimed he had a job interview coming up at a nearby hardware store.
Moved by his story, Garcia let Navarro stay at her home and cooked meals for him each night, thinking he was a “sweet kid” who had simply fallen on difficult times and needed support.
After several days, however, Garcia’s view of him began to shift as Navarro allegedly grew more demanding and started behaving as though the home were his own.
“He was there a total of six days and he started kind of making demands,” Abbie recounted to CBS News. “He wasn’t really helping with any of the things that he agreed to in the beginning.”
When Garcia eventually told Navarro he needed to leave, he allegedly waited until she fell asleep on the couch before launching a brutal attack with a metal baseball bat.
Garcia’s family said the beating went on for hours, with Navarro allegedly pausing only when she lost consciousness and then striking her again each time she came to.
“He just kept beating her until he finally thought she was dead,” Abbie said.
At that point, Navarro allegedly ran off with Garcia’s phone, credit cards, keys and e-bike.
Therese Garcia, 71, was nearly beaten to death after she welcomed Erik Eduardo Navarro, 26, into her home
Garcia has been treated for a traumatic brain injury, a brain bleed and multiple deep lacerations that required extensive stitching
Authorities in San Bernardino County are continuing to search for Navarro
Deputies with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office only discovered what had happened after neighbors asked for a welfare check on the 71-year-old.
When they then arrived at her house on August 25, they found Garcia suffering from a cut on her forehead, a cut eyebrow, swollen hands and injuries near her eyes that caused swelling that made it difficult for her to see.
Garcia’s family now believes she would have bled to death if the neighbors hadn’t asked for help.
The matriarch has been in the hospital ever since the frightening encounter, with family members describing how she was left vomiting blood for days and had multiple broken bones in her arm, hands and face.
She has been treated for a traumatic brain injury, a brain bleed and multiple deep lacerations that required extensive stitching, her family has said.
Garcia’s condition has started to stabilize over the past week, as she started taking some small steps.
Still, she remains in immense pain and is ‘extremely dizzy, exhausted and struggling with the effects of her brain injury.
‘We don’t yet know what her recovery will look like or how much care she will need once she leaves the hospital,’ Abbie wrote in an online fundraiser to help with her mother’s medical expenses.
An online fundraiser notes that Garcia’s family is trying to do everything they can for the matriarch, who does not have health insurance
It notes that Garcia does not have health insurance and may need facial surgery once the swelling subsides, as well as potentially extensive in-home care.
‘Our family is doing everything we can,’ Abbie said. ‘I am her daughter, currently pregnant and caring for my one-year-old. Her son lives in New York and her other daughter is working while raising two children.
‘We are doing our best to balance our own families while being there for our mom through this nightmare,’ she continued, saying the family ‘would give anything to take this pain away from her.’
Meanwhile, authorities are continuing to search for Navarro, whom Abbie said she genuinely believes will kill somebody if he’s not caught.
‘My mom didn’t deserve this,’ she said in the fundraiser. ‘She was simply trying to help someone she believed was in need, something she has always done throughout her life. This time, her kindness was met with unimaginable violence.
‘She survived. Now we want to help her truly recover.’
For those who cannot donate, Abbie asked for the public to ‘please keep my mom in your prayers.’
Anyone with information about Navarro’s whereabouts is also asked to call the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office Twin Peaks station at (909) 336-0660.
