A Lompoc man has pleaded not guilty to murder and denied a special circumstance of torture after allegedly igniting his father on fire last month.
The case against Joseph Ashley Garcia, 40, of Lompoc returned to Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria on Tuesday for another arraignment hearing after the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to amend the criminal complaint. Garcia also wants to fire his attorney, according to court documents.
Garcia initially was charged with attempted murder and aggravated mayhem, but the prosecuting attorney sought new charges after the father’s death because of his injuries.
Officers responded at 3:30 p.m. June 11 to a residence on the 200 block of North D Street on a report of a father and son fighting. They also received a report that the son was beating the father.
Officers asked the son, Garcia, to open the door but he did not comply, leading police to force it open, according to the Lompoc Police Department.
A motion filed in Superior Court provides additional details about the harrowing incident observed by Lompoc police officers.
“Once the door was kicked in, the officers could see that father’s head was completely engulfed in flames,” the motion said, adding that a dog on fire ran out the front door. “The sergeant grabbed a piece of clothing and started trying to put the flames out. The father grabbed some juice and poured it over his head in an attempt to put out the fire. Eventually the flames were extinguished.”
After being taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Joseph Michael Garcia, the defendant’s father, was transferred to a Los Angeles-area facility with burns on 35% of his body, according to court documents.
He was intubated, sedated and underwent surgery but died June 21, according to authorities.
The father also told police that the son had tried to stab him with a machete, according to court documents.
The amended criminal complaint filed by Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Schoenburg charges Garcia with murder plus a special circumstance for infliction of torture, meaning Garcia would face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Garcia has asked for a Marsden hearing, seeking the court’s permission to fire his court-appointed public defender. That hearing is scheduled for Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Von Deroian in Lompoc.
The defendant’s attorney previously declared a doubt about Garcia’s mental competency, leading to evaluations by two doctors.
A hearing on the doctors’ reports is planned, also in Lompoc this month.
Garcia, who also goes by Joe Garcia Jr., remains in the Santa Barbara County Jail without bail after Tuesday’s hearing.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.