Police have made an arrest in a fatal stabbing in Burbank that left a mother dead and her adult daughter wounded.
About 10 p.m. Monday, a SWAT team descended on the 500 block of East Palm Avenue in Burbank and took 30-year-old Sergio Fraire into custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Earlier that morning about 6 a.m., police had rushed to a home on North Brighton Street in response to a reported stabbing. Once they arrived, they found 59-year-old Arti Varma and her 25-year-old daughter both injured. Varma was taken to a hospital, where she died. Her daughter, who was identified by neighbors as Meera Varma, is in critical condition.
Sergio Fraire, 30, was taken into custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder on Monday night.
(Burbank Police Department)
Neighbors told KTLA that Arti Varma was a public school teacher and Meera Varma is a mental health advocate and public speaker “who has worked alongside high-profile national figures.” Photos posted on her LinkedIn page showed her at events with former President Biden and former talk show host Oprah Winfrey, among other prominent people.
“I’m still shocked by it,” neighbor Christina Strattan told KTLA. “I can’t even wrap my head around who would do such a thing. Why would somebody target them?”
Then-President Biden takes a selfie in 2022 with student leaders from Active Minds, including Meera Varma, who represented UCLA at a meeting about mental health.
(Courtesy of Meera Varma)
The relationship between the suspect and the victims is being investigated, authorities said.
Anyone with information related to this case has been asked to contact the Burbank Police Department’s Investigation Division at (818) 238-3210.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
