Witness leads police to badly beaten girl, 4

Ray Garcia Jr., 22, is accused of beating a 4-year-old girl who was under his care. Ray Garcia Jr., 22, is accused of beating a 4-year-old girl who was under his care. Photo: COURTESY OF BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT Photo: COURTESY OF BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Witness leads police to badly beaten girl, 4 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — A man was arrested Saturday morning after a witness who visited a home in Northeast San Antonio alerted police to a badly beaten 4-year-old girl.

Ray Garcia Jr., 22, was arrested around 12:30 a.m. on a charge of injury to a child/serious bodily injury. He's being held on $30,000 bail.

The witness alerted authorities and provided police with enough information to learn the child's whereabouts, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

When officers made contact with the child, they discovered she had head trauma, facial fractures, a fractured clavicle and pelvis, a broken finger and various lacerations and abrasions all over her body.

Her injuries, according to SAPD, were “indicative of ongoing abuse and were considered life-threatening.” SAPD, working with the San Antonio Fire Department and Child Protective Services, removed the girl from the home and transported her to a hospital for treatment.

SAPD Chief William McManus said the arrest comes at the beginning of Child Abuse Prevention Month, during which SAPD works with local child advocacy organizations to prevent child abuse and encourage those who see it to say something about it.

“We kept saying, 'If you see something, say something,'” he said. “In all likelihood (this person) saved this child's life.”

McManus said Garcia is the victim's mother's boyfriend.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Garcia was the primary caretaker of the victim and three of her siblings while their mother was at work.

The victim, according to her mother, has a urination problem that upsets Garcia.

“According to the victim's mother, the defendant is very abusive and strikes the victim with a belt and denies her food,” the document said.

The mother was not arrested and faced no charges as of Saturday evening.

Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman Mary Walker said CPS is investigating, and all four children are in CPS' care.

“There is no doubt in my mind that this child would have been dead if this had continued,” McManus said. “Thank God that this person reported it.”

SAPD continues to investigate and urges anyone with more information on this case, or any other involving a victim unable to come forward on their own, to alert authorities.

“A 4-year-old doesn't know that there is help out there,” McManus said. “All they know is that is their home, their family and this is what is happening to them. They don't know to reach out.”

Last year, according to McManus, there were 66,000 cases of child abuse in Texas. He said likely many more went unreported.

In San Antonio alone, there were 10 deaths attributed to child abuse, he said, again urging anyone with information on a case of child abuse to alert authorities.

“We don't care if the report you're giving turns out not to be true,” he said. “We would rather have that report and find out that there was nothing to it. All it takes is a phone call. You don't even have to say who you are.”

Anyone with information on potential child abuse can call 911 to file a report.

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA