A jury found a Lompoc man guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of torture for the death of his father, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced this week.
The jury also found that Joseph Ashley Garcia was sane at the time of the killing.
In June 2022, Lompoc police responded to a report of a fight between a father and son at a home in the 200 block of North D Street. When officers arrived, police say they found that Joe Garcia Sr. had been set on fire and was actively burning. The victim was taken to a burn center, where he later died. Garcia Jr. was arrested.
Joseph Ashley Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6 and faces a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole, according to the DA’s Office.
