April 29, 2002, was the worst day of my life. I found out that my soul-mate, David March, was shot and killed on duty while doing a routine traffic stop at 10:30 in the morning. He was shot in the side of his chest, where the vest did not cover, then executed in the head. I also learned that his killer fled the scene.
Instantly the news media was at the hospital, and at my home to catch the drama as it unfolded. I didn’t want to be on camera, but needed the world's help finding the person(s), that fled from the scene in a black Maxima. Within two days, the face of the expected killer was all over the news. I wanted to see the eyes of a killer who took my dreams away.
As I sat there, ill in despair, two Hispanic men told the media, they had told Armando Garcia, “Chato” to flee to the border (Mexico). I thought this was a place to run and hide. Not a place to seek a safe haven. I was soon to find out how broken our justice system really was.
I began to learn new terminology such as; extradition, deportation, bounty hunters, treaty, corruption within Mexico, and worst of all our own government's lack of involvement. This was very overwhelming considering my future, as I saw it, was never going to be the same.
As I approach the one year mark, I cannot believe that this is a battle I need to fight. My husband protected the citizens and loved this career. This was his lifelong dream to make this world a better place. I want to believe that his death brings attention to the very real problem that if people kill and flee to the border, they are getting away with murder.
This isn’t a new problem. How could this not be a huge concern? After September 11th, this nation was attacked by terrorists. We learned that we are not safe, and our homeland needs a better protection system.
Mexico is harboring Mr. Garcia. A cop killer is still living a free life in Mexico. This is a continuous nightmare. Mexico will not extradite a violent criminal wanted for murder, because they don’t agree with the death penalty, or life in prison. This monster moved from Mexico and illegally came to the United States, and resided here in California. He plagued our streets with drugs, and criminal activities. Why isn’t he accountable to our laws, if he lived here and committed murder here? Why is Mexico forcing their laws on our country? Where is the mutual respect? Why would Mexico protect a criminal, who had been deported three times, and had two previous attempted murders, prior to Dave’s death? I want the assurances he is paying for the crime here in the United States. Our family will not settle for a lesser crime such as manslaughter. He took a life, and should be willing to give up his own. That is why the law is in place.
I’m so grateful to our law enforcement, our Sheriff, Lee Baca, and our District Attorney, Steve Cooley, for being a voice, and supporting our family during this most difficult time. This is in the hands of our federal government, and our President. We appreciate the prayers and want this tragedy to shed light on our broken system. We cannot let the bad guys win. Our citizens and our police officers are not safe. Please write to your local Congressman and our leaders in Washington D.C. More voices and letters will increase our chances in making our government accountable.
On April 29, 2002 my brother, Deputy Dave March, was killed while making a traffic stop in Irwindale. Dave was executed by Armando Garcia, a drug dealer from Mexico. Garcia had been deported from the United States three times prior to Dave’s murder. At the time of Dave’s murder, Garcia was wanted for two other attempted murders. Little did we know that while we were mourning the loss of Dave, Garcia was making a beeline to Mexico, where he knew he could escape from justice in the United States. Before Dave was killed, we had no idea that anyone with even a trace of Mexican blood could commit serious crimes in the U.S. and avoid our justice system simply by crossing the border into Mexico. Mexico will not extradite murderers, rapists or any other criminals facing a life sentence or the death penalty in the United States. We just wanted Dave’s killer back; we didn’t care that there were insane extradition treaties between the United States and Mexico. In the months after Dave’s death, we met other wonderful families that were in the same situation. Many of them had been fighting our government for years on this extradition issue.
Dave dying is something none of us imagined could ever happen. When I first found out, I was at the pediatrician with my son, Jake. My husband, Kimo called me on my cell phone and asked for our neighbor’s phone number. I could tell that Kimo was upset about something, so I asked him if everything was OK. He started crying and told me that Dave had been shot. My immediate thought was that Dave, being a member of our clumsy family, probably shot himself in the foot. I asked Kimo if Dave was OK, but he didn’t know. All he knew was that Dave was at Huntington Memorial Hospital. Before getting off the phone, I assured Kimo that Dave was fine and he told me that he would call as soon as he heard anything. Kimo felt helpless because he was stuck in San Diego at a training seminar. As I was getting off the phone with Kimo, the doctor came in to see Jake. He could tell that I was upset about something and asked if I wanted to postpone Jake’s appointment. I told him to go ahead because there was nothing I could do just yet (I didn’t have any idea where the hospital was, and I was sure that Dave was fine.)
The doctor left the room to get the nurse and I called my mom to let her know what had happened. When I told her that Dave had been shot, she screamed "OH NO, OH NO, OH NO". I quickly stopped her and told her that he was probably fine and that he was at Huntington Memorial Hospital. I told her that I would call her with any details from Kimo. Unfortunately, my mom was in Lake Arrowhead, so she had no way to get to the hospital quickly. She was in a hurry to get off the phone because she wanted to call my Dad, who was working in San Dimas.
As I was waiting for the nurse to show up to give Jake his shots, my cell phone rang. I had no idea that my whole life was about to be turned completely upside down. I answered the phone; it was my mom crying. The first words out of her mouth were "Erin…..Dave is dead". I couldn’t believe my ears. What did she mean by "dead"?? I instantly went into hysterics, and all I could do was try to convince myself that he wasn’t really dead. I kept repeating to my mom "No, he’s not dead Mom…he’s not dead". I asked her if she was able to reach my dad. As she bawled, she told me that he knew and that telling him that Dave was gone was the hardest thing she ever had to do. My mom was crying in a way that I had never heard before. The sound of her crying on the phone will never leave my ears. In fact, that entire phone call will haunt me forever.
A minute later, the nurse came in the room to give Jake his shots. When the nurse saw that I was crying, she immediately came over and held me as if she were my mother. Even though I barely knew her, her embrace was just what I needed at that moment. When I told her what had happened, she held me even tighter and just let me cry on her shoulder for a few minutes. While Jake was getting his shots, I must have received about ten phone calls from Kimo, his sister Malia, my parents, etc. Things were completely chaotic and no one knew what to do. Kimo didn’t want me driving in my condition, so he was trying to arrange for someone to pick me up. At the same time he was frantically trying to figure out how he was going to get back from San Diego quickly. My mom was in the same dilemma. Fortunately, my dad was not too far away and a work friend of his drove him to the hospital.
I felt like I had been sitting in the doctor’s office for about a century when finally two investigators from the DA’s Office picked me up. Jake and I sat in the back of the car and as we sat in traffic, I felt numb. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. As we got closer to the hospital, I started to feel sick to my stomach. My stomach has never been able to handle stress very well; how on earth was my body going to handle this?? When we arrived at the hospital, there were cop cars everywhere. As we pulled around to the emergency entrance, I was overcome with emotion.
I was quickly escorted into the hospital, while the two investigators watched Jake. As I looked around at all the people, this horrible nightmare started to become real to me. The first two people I recognized were our good friends Faisal and Anette. I was so relieved to see them. Immediately, they both put their arms around me and held me as we all cried. A few minutes later, I saw my dad. We both broke down crying and he walked me into the room where the family was gathered. My dad was trying so hard to be strong for the family, but I could tell he was completely devastated. The wonderful son that they raised was now gone.
Sheriff Lee Baca was in the room with grief counselors and some other people from the sheriff’s department. I looked around the room and saw Dave’s wife Teri sitting next to her mother crying. None of us could fathom this awful situation. It didn’t seem real. As we all sat in this room, Sheriff Baca explained witness accounts of what had happened to Dave and that deputies were trying to track down the killer. He also told us that both of Dave’s gunshot injuries were fatal. I was relieved to know that Dave didn’t suffer.
As reality continued to sink in, I started to feel dizzy and sick to my stomach. To keep from getting worse, I kept repeating in my head "this isn’t really happening…this isn’t really happening…". The denial strategy didn’t work. I was hoping that my mom and Kimo would arrive soon. I was worried about them both and I didn’t know how my mom was going to hold up through all of this.
After we had been at the hospital for about an hour, my mom and Kimo finally arrived. I was so glad to see them, but I was also worried about how they would handle this overwhelming situation. My mom seemed to be in a trance. I think she was in a state of denial. How on earth do you accept that your son has just been killed??? As for Kimo, he just lost his brother-in-law and one of his best friends. I knew this would be extremely difficult for him.
As time went on, I felt sicker and sicker. Kimo helped me to the bathroom, and I started throwing up. I felt like I was going to faint. My emotions and physical sickness were too much for me to handle. I was so weak. I just wanted someone to put me to sleep. How is it possible that Dave is dead? I wanted to escape from this whole nightmare. Finally, I reached a point where my body just shut down. I couldn’t talk to anyone. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t respond to anything the people around me were saying. My body found a way to shut it all out. Before I knew it, I was being admitted to the hospital. Immediately, I was given an IV of glucose in an effort to raise my blood sugar levels. I just sat there in the hospital bed staring into space. Someone could have been standing right next to me and I wouldn’t have known it.
Just as quickly as I sunk into this zombie-like state, I was snapped out of it by the sound of Jake screaming. He needed me. My maternal instinct seemed to take over and I knew that I had to snap out of it and take care of my baby. Kimo brought Jake to me, and I started nursing him. As I watched him nurse, I started to feel better. Jake was just the miracle I needed to pull myself together. To this day, I don’t know how I would have made it through this chaos without both my boys (Kimo and Jake).
Meanwhile my parents and Teri were going through their own nightmares. I felt bad that I couldn’t be there for them at the hospital. Luckily, numbness carried them through that day. It wasn’t until later, months later, that things truly sunk in with my parents. As the numbness wore off, and reality sunk in, my mom struggled through each day. Some days things seemed hopeless and other days actually seemed happy. The first few times we smiled or laughed after Dave was gone brought feelings of guilt followed by renewed sadness. Eventually, we realized that it is OK to smile and laugh. I realized that Dave would kick our butts if we all just sat around moping all the time.
Things really turned around for me when I started having dreams about Dave. In most of the dreams, Dave would tell me in his own silly ways that he was just fine. In one dream, he said, "I am fine. Don’t worry about me. Tell everyone that I am fine." I like to think that Dave was really visiting me in those dreams. He seemed so real. How could my mind have just made these dreams up?? In fact, we have all had our own special dreams about Dave. Reliving these dreams and sharing them with each other is like actually having another precious day with Dave.
Back in reality, we are all trying desperately to define our lives without Dave. Unfortunately, our family will never be able to move on until Armando Garcia is caught and brought back to the United States. We have all been fighting to change the laws that keep us from justice. So far, everyone I have talked to about this issue (including Hispanic families since they are the ones most often victimized) has become enraged. People can’t believe that in the United States, there are laws in place that threaten the safety of innocent people. Murderers, rapists and other violent criminals no longer have to be held accountable for their actions. To add insult to injury, these criminals can come and go as they please, back and forth from Mexico to the United States and back to Mexico. As long as they can beat the cops to the border, they can live a nice long life in Mexico free from punishment. As good, hard working, tax paying Americans, we need to let our government know that this is not acceptable! For fear of losing voters, most politicians won’t touch this issue; we need to force them to. Maybe if people get mad enough to do something, my family and hundreds of other families will finally get the justice we deserve for the murders of our loved ones.
Dear Dave,
As I write this letter looking at your picture I can only feel how lucky I am. Your beautiful smile, intensity, strength, kindness, and love of the truth warms my heart. The dignity with which you handled yourself and others fills Dad's and my world with pride. To watch the true character surface in your life filled our world with joy and happiness beyond our wildest dreams for you.
Had I known you would be remarkable in so many ways maybe I wouldn't have worried so much about you. It was those difficult teen years that seemed to last until well into your twenties that brought me to my knees many times over and produced grey hairs and wrinkles I now live with. It was your father who never quit believing in you no matter what. His faith in you was undying. Now I realize it was your search for purpose and love that fueled fearfulness and the frustration in your life at that time. It took a decade of stretching and hard work to bring your life to a better place. Now I can see that as you ventured out into what was unfamiliar and as you become comfortable with what had been uncomfortable by forging into the unknown you were growing. You took only your values of decency and an unwavering spirit with you. As you approached your thirties, around the age of twenty-eight or so you matured. You began to feel comfortable with yourself. I'll never forget how the room would light up when you entered. You were confident and you were calm. You were silly at times and fun to be around. You could be serious and truthful. You had become forgiving of yourself and supportive of others. Probably the qualities I admired about you most, Dave, was your "no B.S." approach to life. You had a clear eye for the truth and the courage to act on it. On many occasions your advice was "right on" and gave clarity where my heart had been filled with emotion. I adored you!
What happened on the day you died was evil overpowering good. Evil has no boundaries. Evil has only one purpose. That is to destroy all that is good. Evil comes in so many different forms, it's difficult to spot them all. Only when there is no more goodness to feed upon will it ultimately destroy itself. You gave your life to fight evil but weren't given the freedom or the tools to fight a good fight. You were forced to give this evil man, Armando Garcia, every opportunity to take you and only then could you fight back with community support. In your mind, as we had previously discussed during the North Hollywood incident, you knew you could lose your job and your lifestyle if you were to make a single error of judgment. Meanwhile "Armando's" evil deeds continue to thrive against society.
However Dave, the truth and decency by which you lived was only limited by the body in which it lived. Now that you are free and at one with God, I see signs of you everywhere. I see lives that were touched by your life. I see victims of crime having a voice. I see leaders creating change that could have prevented your death, and may prevent others' deaths. When you died a positive energy for good was unleashed. It spread all over the place in many different ways.
While your family and friends miss you very much and will continue to miss you, we will accept your destiny. The joy of great memories will keep us. Your presence will be with us always.I love you,
Mom
Dear Mr. President,
I am living the unthinkable nightmare!! Sir, I have told you in person, at the National Police Memorial on May 15, 2003 we needed your help. You said, "We’re going to get this guy." You looked in my eye, and I believed you.
I briefly told you of the injustice that has ripped our family apart. On April 29, 2002, my husband, Deputy David March, was gunned down on a traffic stop by an illegal alien. His killer fled to his native land of Mexico. It is known of his location, and it also is known that he openly brags of his getaway. The suspect, Armando "Chato" Garcia, first shot my husband in broad daylight in the chest, under his armpit, and finished him with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. He vowed he would kill any officer that tried to take him to jail. He was wanted on two unrelated attempts of murder, and had been deported on three occasions for various weapon and drug charges. I imagine this is why he took Dave’s life away.
I live with the vivid details of a memory I have sketched in my mind. I have no other way to deal with this loss. I still can’t believe that his killer is living a life of freedom. I know that my husband would have died protecting the citizens. But I often feel broken hearted that he gave his life in exchange for a criminal to get away with MURDER. I refuse to allow this to be the final outcome. When the world has moved on, I can neither forgive nor forget.
I have written to you in the past, and it’s my understanding that all three letters are not accounted for. I sent pictures of my family. (My daughter Kayla, Dave, and myself.) I also sent pictures of where he was murdered, and the flowers and flags that were there to honor him.
I beg of you to find it in your heart, to help our family experience justice. We loved this man so much. We agonize daily, without our loved one, but worse there is little we can do to change the system.
Recently, on November 15, 2003, California witnessed another Police Officer, Matthew Pavelka was too murdered on a traffic stop. His killer also fled the scene. He also fled to Mexico within 24 hours of the senseless murder. On November 27, 2003, on Thanksgiving Day, it was announced that the Pavelka family would have some comfort, knowing Matthew’s killer, would face American justice. It was said that this suspect was returned to the U.S. with total cooperation from Mexico. The difference in this case, is my husband’s killer is a Mexican National born in Mexico.
I find this to be extremely unfair. It’s outrageous that I currently have no recourse because of where Garcia was born!! I have suffered for 19 months, writing letters, going public, and speaking before the House of Representatives. I have become passionate to find solution to a very serious problem. In my county of Los Angeles, we have over 300 families who have experienced this same injustice. How could this go ignored? We deserve and have the right to feel "closure". But, it is extremely important that a man who upheld the law, be given the respect that our country stands behind his courage and the love he had for his county.
I encourage you to find it in your heart, and fulfill your promise to the world. You had said you would punish those who harbor criminals. Mr. Bush, I have always trusted you, and felt encouraged with your passion in keeping America safe. I would hope that you could assign one person in Washington to learn as much as possible on this particular issue. You could be the person to influence our government, and the government of Mexico to re-evaluate the Treaty. Garcia did the crime in our country, and should be accountable in our country.
Lastly, I don’t want to lose hope. I can’t fight this nightmare alone. I want nothing more than to honor my husband and honor his ultimate sacrifice. He gave his life for the good in this world. He did that, and it would be most fitting to see he gave his life, so Armando Garcia, would be removed from society. As it now stands, Garcia is able to continue his life of crime, and kill again.
I have attached letters that I have written in the past. Also, see attached additional letters written to you regarding this case.
I trust that you will follow up on this matter of urgency. You are the one who can make the difference. I would appreciate your response on this serious issue. I hope that you will also see the missing link, and make an impact on the world, that you stand behind our men and women in uniform that protect us.With hope and desire,
Mrs. Teri March (Widow of Deputy David March)
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