A half-naked lady was allegedly tortured and chained up within the yard of a Texas residence for months — resulting in the arrest of 5 individuals who allegedly starved and shot on the defenseless sufferer with BB weapons.
The Austin Police Division responded to a house on the south aspect of town at round 9 a.m. on Oct. 30 after a 911 name was made concerning a lady screaming for assist and handcuffed to steel train tools within the yard, in line with a press launch.
Officers arrived to search out the unnamed lady affected by extreme accidents, bare from the waist down, and shackled to a punching bag stand.
The primary responders rapidly sprang into motion and tried to free the girl, however “because of the circumstances of the restraints,” they needed to name within the Austin Fireplace Division to deliver particular tools to chop via the steel.
“The girl confirmed indicators of bodily misery and had seen accidents in step with extended restraint,” police stated.
As they labored to free the girl, 5 adults inside the house seen what was taking place and tried to flee, however have been instantly caught and detained.
Police additionally discovered two babies residing on the residence who have been positioned within the care of Little one Protecting Companies for security and assist.
The suspects — Michelle Garcia, 51, Crystal Garcia, 21, Mache Carney, 32, Juan Pablo Castro, 30, and Maynard Lefevers, 21 — had allegedly held the sufferer captive for months, police stated.
The sufferer instructed investigators that she’d been mates with Michelle Garcia, however acknowledged that the group “in some unspecified time in the future, they determined they not favored her,” and the 5 determined to maintain her as a captive, in line with an affidavit obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.
She stated she was pressured to dwell exterior for weeks and overwhelmed at any time when she tried to flee. It’s unclear when the sufferer was taken captive and precisely what number of months she was held.
Detectives stated the girl was fed only one plate of meals a day and shackled to a steel train stand — generally with each wrists locked behind her.
Michelle Garcia allegedly instructed investigators she restricted the girl to at least one meal a day as a result of she thought the sufferer had gotten “chunky.”
Nonetheless, investigators stated the girl appeared severely malnourished.
The sufferer additionally stated that the evening earlier than being discovered, her pants slipped down and she or he “received in bother.” She was then shot with a BB gun, cuffed to a yard stand and left there half-naked in a single day as “punishment” whereas temperatures plunged into the 40s, the affidavit revealed.
Throughout her captivity, she sustained intensive accidents, together with open wounds, extreme swelling of the wrists, lack of tissue from her palms and ft, widespread scarring from BB gun pellets, and important facial trauma.
After being transported to a neighborhood hospital, medical doctors decided her accidents matched weeks of torture and restraint. Scans additionally discovered a BB was lodged in her proper eye.
Castro allegedly instructed police he shot the girl with an electrical rifle-style BB gun as a result of he “didn’t wish to contact her.”
He additionally allegedly admitted that when he would get residence from work, he would seize the BB gun from his closet, and “chase her across the yard,” expressing that he “f–king hates her,” in line with the affidavit.
One of many kids discovered on the residence — a four-year-old boy recognized as Castro’s son — stated his dad shot the girl at any time when she was “unhealthy,” and that his mother, Carney, often stood by and watched.
All 5 suspects have been arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, damage to the aged or disabled, and illegal restraint. They’re all presently locked up on the Travis County Jail on $305,000 bail.
Carney and Michelle Garcia return to courtroom on Nov. 18 and 21, whereas Crystal Garcia, Castro, and Lefevers are set to look on Dec. 15.
The case stays underneath investigation.
