Opinion ID: 4534441
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Garcia approaches the police.

Text: ¶6. Based on a tip, investigators developed a person of interest—one of JT’s neighbors in the apartment complex, Julian Casper Gray. As police searched Gray’s apartment the evening of July 17, Garcia, Gray’s friend and neighbor, engaged the police commander in conversation. Because Garcia appeared to be volunteering information relevant to the investigation, a detective went to Garcia’s apartment. He asked Garcia if he would be willing to speak with investigators at the police station. ¶7. Garcia agreed. On the ride to the police station, Garcia mentioned that his fingerprints would likely be found in the trailer because he had been in the trailer the weekend before. At the station, another detective formally interviewed Garcia after reading Garcia his 2 This opinion refers to the child victim by her initials only. 3 Miranda rights and obtaining a waiver. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966) (requiring that, before a custodial interrogation, the person interrogated be warned he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him, and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed). Garcia told the detective he had stolen some items from the trailer a few days earlier. So his fingerprints and possibly DNA would be in the trailer. He also mentioned his semen may be in the trailer because he had masturbated there while visiting the trailer’s prior occupants. Garcia claimed he had possibly blacked out around the time of JT’s disappearance and that he woke up with feces on his penis and inner thighs. Garcia said the feces was not his.3 And he immediately took a shower and washed his clothes. The interview ended when Garcia asked for a lawyer.4 ¶8. Based on this information, police obtained a search warrant for Garcia’s apartment. In his bedroom, police found an Xbox 360 game console, which was connected to the internet. A digital forensic examiner recovered the internet searches made on the console in 3 During his guilty plea, Garcia admitted JT defecated on him when he penetrated her anus with his penis. 4 A few days later, Garcia requested a second interview with the same detectives. This time, he insisted he had not blacked out during the time JT went missing. He also backtracked from his earlier admission that he had showered because his penis and thighs were covered in someone else’s feces. Instead, Garcia told the detectives that Gray had come to his apartment asking for help. Garcia said he followed Gray to the abandoned trailer where he found JT tied to a chair in the bedroom. Garcia admitted that he helped move JT’s body to the bathroom, where he tried to rinse feces and semen off JT. Garcia also admitted using the socks tied around JT to hang her by the crank on the window. During this interview, Garcia insisted he had not sexually assaulted JT. He explained, however, that his semen was possibly on JT’s body because when Gray came to his apartment, Garcia had just finished masturbating and had not washed his hands before going to the trailer. 4 the days leading up to JT’s rape and murder. These search phrases included “toddler hentai,”5 “poor little thing,” “kidnapped and raped,” and “virginravisher.” ¶9. Garcia was arrested and held without bond. On October 5, 2015, a grand jury indicted Garcia for capital murder in the commission of felony sexual battery.