A normally quiet Southern California neighborhood is in shock after an early morning attack inside a family’s home left a mother dead and her daughter hospitalized, with a suspect now in custody, police said.
Burbank police arrested 30-year-old Sergio Fraire in the attack. He was booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, and formal charges are pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The violence unfolded just after 6 a.m. on April 20 at a home on North Brighton Street in Burbank, where officers responding to a call for help found a mother and daughter with stab wounds.
Both were rushed to a hospital. The mother, identified by police as 59-year-old Arti Varma, later died from her injuries. Her 25-year-old daughter survived and is now listed in stable condition.
Arti Varma’s daughter, Meera Varma, who survived the attack, is a nationally recognized mental health advocate and TEDx speaker, according to her personal website. She has worked alongside prominent figures, including Oprah Winfrey, President Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Kamala Harris and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
According to her personal website, Meera Varma was the youngest speaker in TEDxUCLA history and has been invited to the White House to discuss youth mental health with the Bidens.
In 2023, she also spoke with Winfrey at UCLA about the youth mental health crisis. Her work has focused on fostering open conversations around mental health and supporting young people in crisis.
Arti Varma was a first grade teacher at Bret Harte Elementary School, according to the school’s website. Fox News Digital reached out to the Burbank Unified School District.
“Ms. Varma was a deeply valued member of the Burbank Unified community. She was known not only for her dedication to teaching, but for the care, warmth and passion she brought to her work every day,” the district said in a statement, according to CBS.
“Her commitment to her students, her colleagues and the Bret Harte Elementary School community was evident in the relationships she built and the lasting impact she had on the lives of those she served. Her loss is felt profoundly across our district.”
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“She was an amazing teacher,” family friend Cristina Strattan told ABC7. “She was such a bright light. Always so joyful.”
The violence has rattled residents in the typically quiet neighborhood, where neighbors say this kind of crime is rare.
“I’m still shocked,” Strattan told KTLA. “I can’t even wrap my head around who would do such a thing.”
Another neighbor, Victor Goli, told ABC7 the attack may have involved someone breaking into the home and said Meera was initially “fighting for her life” in the hospital.
Goli said Arti’s husband and Meera’s father was out of the country when it all happened.
“He couldn’t even speak. … He was crying,” Goli told ABC7.
Police said the arrest came after a daylong investigation that included interviewing witnesses, canvassing the neighborhood and reviewing surveillance video.
Around 10 p.m. Monday, SWAT officers served a search warrant at a residence on East Palm Avenue, where Fraire was believed to be staying. He was taken into custody without incident, and investigators said they recovered evidence linked to the crime.
Police have not said whether the suspect knew the victims, and a motive has not been released.
“The relationship, if any, between the suspect and the victims remains under investigation,” authorities said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Burbank Police Department’s Investigation Division at 818-238-3210.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Burbank Unified School District and representatives for Biden, Harris and Winfrey for comment.
