HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A brutal discovery 28 years ago has a Houston family still seeking answers following the death of a beloved Sharpstown Middle School student.
On June 7, 1997, a security guard discovered the body of 14-year-old Erica Garcia inside the abandoned Alief General Hospital. Authorities said the young girl had been beaten, raped, strangled, and left in her underwear.
Since then, no arrests have been made.
“I gotta find out who did it. I need to know,” her mother, Margarita Garcia, cried while speaking with ABC13.
Erica was the oldest of the children, and her mother said she had recently been selected to be on the school’s cheerleading team.
“She was looking forward to that, but she didn’t make it,” Margarita said.
On the evening of June 6, 1997, Erica’s aunt, Brenda Chavez, dropped Erica and a friend off at a local teen club.
“I said, ‘Be careful.’ (Erica) told me ‘Thank you, tia, for bringing me. We’ll be safe,'” Chavez said. Those were the last words she heard from her niece.
Investigators believe that in the hours leading up to her death, Erica and her friend left the teen club and met up with a larger group of friends at a nearby apartment.
Eventually, the teens went to a bar on Bellaire Boulevard near the hospital.
“Basically, everybody’s story, it’s either ‘She walked home,’ or ‘She just left,’ which, I know it’s a lie. I know it’s a lie. Someone in the crowd that she was with knows something. I know they do,” Garcia said.
In the years that have passed, Garcia has watched the case grow more complicated. Many of the buildings involved have been torn down or repurposed. Some of Erica’s friends left town. Scientific advancements have not been applied to the DNA recovered in her daughter’s case, she said.
“It’s aggravating and I have a lot of anger,” said Garcia. She added, “The ball was dropped a long time ago.”
On Monday, at Margarita’s direction, the Houston Police Department and Crime Stoppers will hold a press conference on the case.
Garcia prays the public outreach yields new leads.
“I’m not gonna give up. I don’t care what it takes,” she said.
Those with information are urged to contact Crime Stoppers or the Houston Police Department.
For more updates on this story, follow Shannon Ryan on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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