Woman accused of torturing and killing 8-year-old boy is back in Tri-Cities
A 39-year-old woman is back in Franklin County after she allegedly tortured three children, leading to the death of an 8-year-old boy.
Araceli Medina of Pasco was booked into the jail this week nearly eight months after being arrested in Mexico with her boyfriend Edgar Salvador Casian-Garcia, 35.
She is being held without bail.
The couple is accused in a horrifying pattern of abuse involving Casian-Garcia’s two daughters and a son that included holding their heads under water, cutting them with razor blades and pouring burning water on them, according to court documents.
The torture resulted in the death of 8-year-old Edgar Casian, say investigators. The girls were found alive by the side of a road in Mexico. The older girl, then age 9, was unable to walk, eat or use the restroom without help.
Now, their father and his girlfriend are charged with aggravated first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted. In addition, they each are charged with three counts of first-degree assault of a child and two counts of first-degree child rape.
They’re also accused of showing an egregious lack of remorse and deliberate cruelty.
Casian-Garcia was booked into the Franklin County jail in late September. He has pleaded innocent to the charges and his trial is set for Jan. 31.
Medina has yet to enter a plea.
Murder and abuse
Edgar’s mother Maria Quintero told the Herald in June 2021 that she called police and Washington state Child Protective Services several times after her ex-boyfriend took custody of their son and daughters.
The three kids had spent most of their lives with their paternal grandmother, according to court documents. Then, Casian-Garcia and Medina took custody of them in May 2020.
But when they stopped attending online school classes, a teacher at Barbara McClintock Elementary School in Pasco called CPS to report that she was being lied to about where they were.
They were last seen when a Pasco police officer responded to a no-contact order violation and vandalism complaint at their Road 68 apartment. The children can be seen in the body camera footage.
In September 2020, Casian-Garcia reported to the school district that the children had moved to Vancouver, Wash., though investigators say the couple actually moved with the kids to a different Pasco apartment.
There, the couple tied up the children, left them in a bathroom and frequently abused them, according to court documents.
Investigators believe Edgar likely died between Sept. 20, 2020 and Nov. 5, 2020.
Court documents say his father and stepmother tied him up, put him in the shower and put a surgical mask over his face. They aimed the shower head at his mask, turned it on and left.
When they returned, Edgar was dead, according to court documents.
However, his body wouldn’t be found until February 2022 in a field south of Kennewick near South Finley Road and Highway 397.
Investigators say in court documents they believe the Casian-Garcia and Medina left the Tri-Cities a few days after Edgar died, taking the girls, then 9 and 3, to Mexico.
They allegedly abandoned the girls by the side of the road in Tijuana and returned to Pasco.
After the girls were found and identified, police questioned Casian-Garcia and Medina, who claimed Child Protective Services had taken the kids and they were no longer with them.
When officials discovered that wasn’t true, Casian-Garcia and Medina already had fled to Mexico and a warrant was issued for their arrest, said officials. Eventually, they were listed on the U.S. Marshals list of most wanted fugitives.
The search also intensified for Edgar’s body and when he was found in a shallow grave, the charges were upgraded in February 2022.
About a year later, Casian-Garcia and Medina were arrested in Mexico in March 2023.
This story was originally published November 9, 2023 at 9:58 AM.