TX TX- Erica Garcia, 14, Raped & strangled, Body @ abandoned hospital, 7/6/97 * New Initiative*

[dotr]

Erica Garcia cold case update | khou.com
May 3 2022
''On June 7, 1997, the body of Erica Garcia was found in the abandoned Alief General Hospital building.''

''HOUSTON — In an empty field on the west side of Houston, it’s hard to look past one mother’s grief.

Margarita Garcia's daughter, Erica Garcia, was murdered there.

RELATED: Cold case: 14-year-old girl's rape, murder still a mystery

“She was 14. She was a strong-headed girl ... very pretty," Margarita said about her daughter.''

Her friends called her “Tweety" and it's a name she had tattooed. She had just made the cheerleading squad at Sharpstown Middle School.

“I didn’t get to see her get married, I didn’t get to see her have children," Margarita said.

She still doesn’t know who did it or why they killed her daughter.

“She didn’t deserve this, she did not deserve to die like this," Margarita said.

The empty field used to be the site of the old Alief General Hospital. A security guard making the rounds found Erica's body on June 7, 1997.

“I am confident enough to say that there are at least two people out there that know what happened," Houston Police Department Detective Ramon Cervantes said.

He works with HPD's Cold Case Unit.

Investigators said Erica was raped and strangled with her own clothing but they've never been able to pinpoint a motive.

However, police can pinpoint where Erica was before she was killed. The night before her death, her aunt dropped her off at a teen club called New Dimension.

“Her friend met her outside on Beechnut and I watched her go in and that was the last time I saw her," Erica's aunt, Brenda Garcia-Chavez, said.''

 

[dotr]

2009 rbbm.
Cold case: 14-year-old girl's rape, murder still a mystery | khou.com
''Police say 14-year-old Erica Garcia was raped - likely by several people - and then strangled with her own underwear in 1997. But all these years later, Erica's family is still waiting for justice.''

"Whoever did this, I hope you are watching, because you are going to pay, and you are going to pay deeply," Erica's mother, Margarita Garcia, said.

Police said they never arrested anyone in Erica's murder, despite having two of HPD's top homicide detectives on the case.

"They were like the ideal. These are the guys you wanted to be as good as. They talked to everybody, they went everywhere, they did everything. And they had all of the evidence processed," Sgt. Mike Peters said.

What police do know is that Erica was trying to grow up fast.

On a Friday night in June of 1997, police say Erica went to a nightclub on Beechnut called Dimension.

She went there with her boyfriend and several other people.

At the end of the night, police said one of her friends asked Erica how she was getting home.

"One of her friends said she was getting on the bus and said, ' Do you want to ride home with me?' And she said, 'No, I have someone picking me up,'" Peters said.

The next time anyone saw her, she was dead inside the Alief General Hospital Building.''

After the murder, Erica's mother moved out of town and, as you can imagine, has never been the same.

"I go to bed thinking about her. I wake up at night, like tomorrow is my birthday and she is not here," Garcia said through tears.

Peters says he feels like some teenager probably knew what happened back then. After all, word travels fast through the halls of middle and high schools.''

 

[dotr]

May 3 2022
(19) 25 years later, investigators hope DNA will help solve a Houston teen's murder - YouTube

 

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Missing Pieces: Erica Garcia cold case update

On June 7, 1997, the body of Erica Garcia was found in the abandoned Alief General Hospital building.

www.khou.com

 

[Jacqu777]

Houston PD "Featured Cases" Description:
Cold Cases - Featured Cases

HPD Incident #727939-97

Erica Ann Garcia

Type of crime: Murder

Address: 11101 Bellaire

Date: June 7, 1997 Time: 7:45 AM

On Saturday, June 7, 1997, at approximately 7:45 a.m., a security guard was making his rounds at the shuttered Alief General Hospital when he noticed a boarded up doorway ajar. This doorway led into the closed and abandoned hospital. Upon his investigation into the open doorway, he discovered the body of a female. The police were called and the initial scene investigation was conducted. Later, the female was identified as Erica Ann Garcia. On Friday, June 6, 1997 between 9 and 9:30 pm, Erica Garcia and a female friend were dropped off at a local teen club. Shortly thereafter, both left this club and went to a nearby apartment and met up with individuals that Erica knew. After remaining there for a while, both returned to the teen club only to return to this same apartment from where they came. Soon thereafter, the friend left for home and Erica remained. Erica was last seen at the nearby Bachatu Grill Club located at 11107 Bellaire with some acquaintances. The Houston Police Department Homicide Division Cold Case Squad is requesting anyone with information about this murder to contact the Cold Case Squad at 713-308-3618 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

 

[Jacqu777]

Erica Ann Garcia​

BIRTH6 May 1983DEATH7 Jun 1997 (aged 14)BURIAL
San Gabriel Cemetery
Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas,USAMEMORIAL ID188701357 · View Source

Erica Ann Garcia (1983-1997) - Find a Grave...

Born on 6 May 1983. Died on 7 Jun 1997. Buried in Richmond, Texas, USA.

www.findagrave.com