A forensic pathologist testified Tuesday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Lompoc that 68-year-old Joseph Michael Garcia died from severe burns, not the host of other medical issues he had.
Dr. Manny Montez of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau took the witness stand Tuesday afternoon to testify about the autopsy he performed on the victim.
Garcia’s son, Joseph Ashley Garcia, 43, of Lompoc, has been charged with murder along with a special circumstance of torture plus felony animal cruelty and an allegation for use of a deadly weapon.
Joseph Ashley Garcia was arrested after the June 11, 2022, attack that critically injured his father, who died days later from his injuries.
Officers responded at 3:30 p.m. that day 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 flames, and said he poured juice over his head in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
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.
On Tuesday afternoon, Montez revealed the cause and manner of death determined after performing an autopsy on Joseph Michael Garcia.
“His cause of death is complications of thermal burns,” Montez said under questioning from Senior Deputy District Attorney Madison Whitmore.
Montez said the manner of death was deemed homicide because the injuries occurred at the hands of or due to the act of another person.
Under cross-examination, defense attorney Georgie Steele asked about the victim’s host of medical ailments, including Type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C.
“In general, you would agree he was medically fragile?” Steele asked.
“Correct,” Montez said.
The defense attorney questioned whether any of the health conditions could have caused the man’s death.
“The way we look at this is he dies from and dies with,” Montez said, adding that the man died with diabetes and the other medical issues.
“The reason he was in the hospital is thermal injuries,” Montez said, adding he couldn’t predict the man’s lifespan.
Also Tuesday afternoon, jurors and alternates heard from John Steffens, a fire marshal and battalion chief with the Lompoc Fire Department.
Among the first firefighters on scene, Steffens recalled his crew being dispatched to the unusual incident of a person on fire.
“I didn’t believe that’s what I heard,” Steffans said.
He arrived to find Joseph Michael Garcia being helped out of the house, recalling that the injured man was agitated.
“He was more concerned about his dog,” Steffens said.
He also noted the man’s condition.
“It was bad,” Steffens said.
Steffens also testified about the collection of evidence for the investigation.
District Attorney’s Office investigator Megan Harrison, who also works on the county’s arson task force, testified about delivering various items of evidence, including cuttings from two chairs and a plastic bottle, to the Department of Justice lab in Goleta. She requested that the DOJ conduct tests to determine the presence of an accelerant.
Testimony in the trial is scheduled to resume Friday morning in Judge Stephen Dunkle’s courtroom.
Since the son pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, the trial will have two phases, with the first part focused on the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The second part will center on whether the defendant was sane or insane at the time of the crime.
Garcia remains in the custody of the Santa Barbara County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
Before his arrest, Garcia became known in the community for being an outspoken advocate for the cannabis industry in Lompoc, often speaking at public meetings while wearing a cap with a marijuana leaf.