Homeless Man's Brutal Murder in El Paso

0:00A 46-year-old homeless man named Salome J. Lara's died in El Paso after a brutal attack where he was beaten, hit with rocks, and set on fire. Police arrested David Garcia, another unhoused person, who admitted to the assault because he felt disrespected by Lara's. Video captured Garcia dousing him with liquid and lighting him up, turning this into a murder investigation. Earlier this week on Wednesday, April 1st, detectives confirmed Lara's had burns over 40% of his body, plus a fractured skull and deep head. Wounds. Firefighters found him critically injured near a downtown apartment building after putting out flames around 4.44 a.m. on March 29th. Garcia got booked initially for aggravated assault, but that charge is upgrading now that Lara's passed. Both men were known to police as living without stable homes, highlighting the rough realities faced by folks on the streets in central El Paso. The community is reeling from this violence in an area already dealing with other crimes,

1:01and it raises questions about safety for the unhoused. Investigators pulled videos showing Garcia and possibly another guy attacking Lara's on a concrete slab before the fire. They found a potential co-defendant hiding in a restroom but haven't booked him yet. Garcia's sitting in county jail on a $500,000 bond with a public defender. Meanwhile, El Paso police and fire marshals are digging deeper into the arson angle, and they're asking anyone with tips to call the non-emergency line, or crime stoppers anonymously. This case stays wide open as they piece it all together. You've been listening to El Paso News today, AI-powered local news.