Earlier than he was accused of killing a neighborhood elementary college trainer and critically injuring her grownup daughter, Sergio Fraire was recognized by his former classmates at Burbank Excessive as a devoted pupil and monitor athlete.
A former pupil says he ran center distances, cross-country, and acted a task mannequin for youthful runners till he graduated in 2013.
However that picture of Fraire was shattered this week, after a SWAT staff descended on his second-story condominium and arrested him on suspicion of fatally stabbing a beloved trainer on Monday and almost killing her daughter, an achieved psychological well being advocate and public speaker.
Fraire, 30, is charged with particular circumstances homicide, tried homicide and first-degree residential housebreaking after prosecutors say he fatally stabbed 59-year-old Arti Varma and critically injured her 25-year-old daughter early Monday inside their residence on North Brighton Avenue in Burbank.
He pleaded not responsible inside a Pasadena courtroom on Thursday and is being held with out bail. His lawyer, Mayda Lissette Flores-Medrano, declined to talk to a Los Angeles Occasions reporter.
Varma, a first-grade trainer at Bret Harte Elementary Faculty, died of her accidents Monday. Her daughter, Meera Varma, is recovering in a hospital.
A connection between Fraire and his alleged victims was not instantly clear, however there’s overlap inside their households on this planet of training.
Fraire’s older sister is a particular training trainer for transitional kindergarten by way of first-grade college students at Bret Harte Elementary — the identical college the place the older Varma spent the final 15 years of her profession, based on interviews and public information. However it’s not clear whether or not Fraire knew the Varma household. Calls to a number of of Fraire’s kinfolk went unreturned.
“Detectives proceed to analyze the connection, if any, between the suspect and the victims, in addition to the motive,” Lt. Brent Fekety, a spokesperson for the Burbank Police Division, informed The Occasions.
Arti Varma was referred to as a trainer who was glad and optimistic and would push her college students to do their greatest. She emigrated from India after spending her childhood there “with a loving, prolonged household” and had two kids, based on the college web site.
Meera Varma is a nationally acknowledged psychological well being activist who grew to become obsessed with youth psychological well being after enduring her personal struggles in highschool, based on a 2022 L.A. Occasions article. She grew to become the youngest speaker in TED x UCLA historical past in 2023 and took part in a psychological well being summit at UCLA with media mogul Oprah Winfrey. She was invited to the White Home to talk about the youth psychological well being disaster and coverage, based on her web site.
Burbank Police launched this reserving picture of Sergio Fraire, who has been charged with particular circumstances homicide, tried homicide and first-degree residential housebreaking.
(Burbank Police Division)
Investigators recognized Fraire as their suspect after interviewing witnesses and reviewing footage from residence cameras within the neighborhood.
Fekety stated surveillance video confirmed Fraire strolling roughly three miles between his residence on East Palm Avenue and the Varma residence earlier than the stabbing.
Prosecutors allege Fraire entered the Varma household’s residence between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Monday as they have been sleeping.
If convicted of all prices, Fraire faces life in jail with out the potential of parole. Prosecutors haven’t but decided whether or not they may search the loss of life penalty within the case.
The violence rattled the tight-knit group, significantly at Bret Harte Elementary, the place college students and employees had just lately endured the lack of a kindergarten trainer who was additionally killed in her residence.
“Arti was a unbelievable trainer and candy girl. The group feels her loss particularly at Bret Harte Elementary,” stated neighbor Emma Strattan, who attended college with Meera Varma.
The case has prompted concern and rampant hypothesis as investigators seek for solutions.
As a teen, Fraire spent three years on the Burbank Excessive Faculty monitor staff as a center distance runner and 4 years on the college’s cross-country staff, often rating in prime spots throughout meets.
He was named essentially the most excellent freshman, a prime sophomore and 1st staff all-area his junior 12 months for cross-country. He additionally has a black belt in martial arts and was a part of the college’s Spanish membership, based on his faculty recruiting profile.
He may run a 1500 meter in 4 minutes and 20 seconds and a 5K in 14 minutes and 50 seconds, his web page stated.
Amongst those that ran with Fraire was Andres Pulgarin, who was a 12 months behind Fraire at Burbank Excessive and noticed him as a task mannequin for pupil athletes seeking to enhance.
“I had solely optimistic experiences with him,” Pulgarin stated. “He was at all times an individual who would cheer teammates on — each on and off the sector. He was a excessive attaining pupil who took Superior Placement courses all of highschool.”
So when Pulgarin noticed his former teammate’s mug shot on-line in reference to a double stabbing, he was shocked.
Fraire appeared utterly totally different than the child he’d remembered from his highschool years. Pulgarin hadn’t saved up with him after Fraire graduated, except for one Burbank monitor meet that Fraire attended as a school freshman to help his former staff.
“He was arrested late within the day, so I think about he was up your entire evening, however that mug shot simply appeared so totally different from the images I had in highschool,” Pulgarin stated. “He seems to be raveled.”
Fraire attended college in San Diego after graduating from Burbank, Pulgarin stated. The Occasions couldn’t independently verify these particulars.
By 2019, Fraire was employed at World Market in Burbank and dealing towards a psychology diploma at Glendale Group School with the aim of finally changing into a psychologist, based on court docket information and interviews.
In February of that 12 months, a co-worker accused of him sexual assault, based on her utility for a brief restraining order filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court docket.
In his personal submitting contesting the restraining order utility, Fraire denied there was an assault, and stated any sexual exercise was consensual. He additionally supplied a letter of advice from two of his instructors at Glendale Group School.
One letter was written by Richard Kamei, a sociology professor on the college, and in it, Fraire is described as somebody who “takes his training severely.”
“It’s obvious that he has a honest curiosity in understanding the subject material so as to have the ability to higher perceive the complexities of the world wherein he lives with the intention to play a task in effectuating optimistic change,” Kamei wrote. He additionally stated that Fraire did volunteer work with the faculty’s College students Speak About Race program. Kamei didn’t reply to a request for remark from The Occasions.
A second letter from one other teacher was included within the court docket submitting and easily affirmed that Fraire had attended each class whereas enrolled in his Psychology 101 course.
A decide granted a brief restraining order in February 2019, however lower than three months later, Fraire and the lady reached an settlement to have it withdrawn. Each events agreed to steer clear of one another, based on court docket information.
