A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge has ruled that a Lompoc man should stand trial for charges related to allegations that he set his dad on fire, leading to his death while also injuring a dog.

Joseph Ashley Garcia, 41, was held to answer to murder and felony animal cruelty charges along with a special circumstance of torture. 

Garcia was arrested after the June 11, 2022, attack that critically injured his father, 68-year-old Joseph Michael Garcia. The father died days later from his injuries.

Officers responded at 3:30 p.m. June 11, 2022, to a residence on the 200 block of North D Street to a report of a father and son fighting, according to the Lompoc Police Department. 

When police entered the residence, they found the father’s upper body engulfed in fire and said he poured juice over his head in an attempt to extinguish the flames. 

Burn injuries covered 30% of his body, and he had sepsis and acute respiratory failure all related to his thermal injuries, Deputy District Attorney Madison Whitmore said Tuesday. 

The father’s dog had been sitting on his lap and fled from the house, but was captured and ultimately cared for by a Los Alamos resident, who found a new home for the healed canine.

During the preliminary hearing Tuesday morning, Lompoc Detective Elizabeth Renner testified about responding to a domestic disturbance.

When police asked the son to open the door, he shook his head side to side and said, “No, thank you.”

Officers asked the father to come to the door, but he said he didn’t believe the defendant would allow him to do so.

Renner said two colleagues ultimately used force to enter the home as the father screamed. 

Officers entered to find a horrific scene that made Renner emotional more than a year later as she testified about the incident.

“I saw the defendant engulfed in flames from his shoulders up to his face,” she said, adding that the defendant had placed himself on the ground. 

Officers looked for something to smother the flames before the dad acted. 

“He had a gallon jug of orange liquid he poured over his head himself,” Renner said. 

Amid the traumatic events, the son’s demeanor remained calm, and when the prosecuting attorney asked what the defendant did, Renner replied, “At that time, nothing.”

When questioned by police before being taken to the hospital, Joseph Michael Garcia said his son tried to stab him but the father blocked the attack. 

The father told police that the son said, “I’m going to (expletive) kill you.”

Officers found a black torch lighter on the ground near the son, a machete on the couch and a bottle of liquid kerosene nearby.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney George Steele, Renner said she had not seen how the fire started. 

Later, Steele told the judge that while the flames led to the father’s death, the issue rests with how the fire started.

“If anything’s clear, it’s not clear what happened,” Steele said. 

Preliminary hearings involve prosecuting attorneys providing evidence to determine whether the case should move forward and typically include limited defense presentations.

The second witness, Dr. Ginger White, a veterinarian for Santa Barbara County Animal Services, testified about the dog’s injuries, which included burns on his shoulder, a wounded eye and singed fur. 

After hearing the testimony and reviewing the medical records, Judge Stephen Foley said he found probable cause for Garcia to stand trial. 

With two people in the house, Foley ticked off the evidence, including the defendant’s unusually calm demeanor, refusal to cooperate, the torch found near him and the father’s statement that the son intended to kill him, all of which the judge said added up to probable cause.

Foley ordered Garcia to return Nov. 1  for arraignment on the information. 

Criminal proceedings had paused for several months after a judge found Garcia too mentally incompetent to assist in his defense.

After treatment and restoration of mental competency, the criminal case resumed during the summer.