A full-hearted grandmother was nearly beaten to death by a young man who she had invited into her home after he brutally assaulted her with a baseball bat as she slept.<\/p>\n
71-year-old Therese Garcia generously opened her Crestline home to 26-year-old Erik Eduardo Navarro of Orange County, a stranger to her, after he showed up at her home claiming all his belongings had been stolen. Navarro stated he needed a place to stay ahead of an upcoming job interview, according to her family.<\/p>\n
GoFundMe<\/p>\n
Erik Eduardo Navarro, 26, is shown in a police booking photo on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Crestline. Navarro allegedly assaulted a 71-year-old female victim with a metal baseball bat after she asked him to leave her residence. Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department<\/p>\n
The kindhearted woman took him in, cooked for him every night and came to believe he was a \u201csweet kid\u201d down on his luck.<\/p>\n
After for two weeks, Navarro began \u201cmaking demands and taking over her home,\u201d the family said.<\/p>\n
Garcia then allegedly told Navarro on Aug. 25 that it was time to leave, which set him off.<\/p>\n
Navarro allegedly took up a metal baseball bat and began clubbing her while she was sleeping.<\/p>\n
GoFundMe<\/p>\n
GoFundMe<\/p>\n
Family described the brutal ordeal, which only ended after he believed the grandmother was dead, in a GoFundMe.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cShe was in and out of consciousness, and every time she woke up, he would beat her again,\u201d the family said. \u201cThis lasted for hours. He stopped only after she completely lost consciousness and apparently believed she was dead. He then took her phone, credit cards, keys, E-bike, and other belongings and fled.\u201d<\/p>\n The caring grandmother\u2019s injuries were horrific. <\/p>\n The San Bernardino Sheriff\u2019s Department said she <\/a>suffered \u201ca laceration to her forehead, cut eyebrow, swollen hands, and swollen orbital area to the point she was unable to clearly see.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, the family said she spent \u201cdays\u201d vomiting blood and could need facial surgery.<\/p>\n Pictures from her hospital bed show the grandma in an unrecognizable state \u2014 clad in a neck brace, with still-swollen eyes, and a cast on her left arm.<\/p>\n GoFundMe<\/p>\n