Five people have been arrested in Texas after allegedly imprisoning and torturing their friend, making her stand outside half-naked and shooting her with a BB gun after deciding they “did not like her any more.”
Officers from Austin Police responded Thursday to reports of a woman in distress who was restrained and calling for help.
They found the woman handcuffed to a piece of exercise equipment outside the home with physical injuries and marks suggesting she had been restrained for a “prolonged” period and officers had to cut through the links to release her safely.
While officers worked to free the woman, multiple adults began exiting the residence, according to police.
They were detained while a search of the home was conducted to ensure there were no additional victims or threats inside. Three young children were located inside.
The five people arrested were named as Michelle Garcia, 51, Crystal Garcia, 21, Mache Carney, 31, Juan Pablo Castro, 30, and Maynard Lefevers, 21.
Interviews and evidence gathered by police led to the belief that all five were involved in the restraint and assault of the victim over a period of time. They were all charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, injury to elderly or disabled, and unlawful restraint.
The victim later told investigators that she’d been friends with Michelle Garcia, but “at some point, they [the five] decided they no longer liked her,” and had decided to hold her captive, according to an affidavit obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.
Garcia allegedly believed the woman had gotten “chunky” so had limited her to one meal a day. Investigators said the victim had appeared severely malnourished.
According to the affidavit the victim also told officers that she had “got in trouble” the night before she had been found after her pants had slipped down.
As a punishment, she said, the group had shot her with a BB gun and forced her to stand handcuffed to the gym equipment overnight as temperatures dropped to the 40s.
Police wrote that the woman had sustained multiple and extensive injuries, including several open wounds, swelling on her wrist from her restraints, scarring from BB pellets all over her body and “significant facial trauma.”
Castro allegedly told police he shot her with the rifle-style BB gun because he “didn’t want to touch her,” according to the Austin American-Statesman. He also allegedly admitted to chasing the woman round the garden with the gun because he “f****** hates her.”
Investigations into the incident remain ongoing. The Independent has attempted to find contact information for any legal representatives for the five arrested.
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