Danny Garcia's Yuma gravesite vandalized twice, mother says

Mercedes Hernandez says her son's grave has been hit twice. The memorial plaque is gone, the flowers torn apart, and she no longer feels safe visiting.

Her son, Danny Garcia, was 19 when he was killed in the May 2023 house-party shooting in Yuma. Hernandez described the vandalism to Lauren Duffel in a KYMA report published October 7. What she says happened is clear. The dates, the police case numbers, and where the plaque ended up are not.

Hernandez told KYMA that Instagram material showed people at the grave holding guns, along with a video mocking Garcia's death. After her daughter alerted her, she said, she found the flowers torn and scattered and the plaque missing. She placed one incident weeks after his burial.

October 7 is the date of the news report, not an established date for either act of vandalism. KYMA's written story does not lay out a separate timeline for the second incident.

What police have said, and what they haven't

Yuma Police Sgt. Lori Franklin told KYMA that damage to a gravesite can be charged as felony aggravated criminal damage. That is a statement about what the law allows, not a finding about this case.

As of October 11, Yuma Informed has not located a public police report or any later official statement showing whether either incident was reported, when a report was made, or whether a criminal investigation is open. No arrest or charge in the gravesite matter has been independently verified.

That is a limit of the available reporting. It is not proof that police received no complaint or did nothing. The department's Records Bureau keeps police reports and accepts requests for case reports, calls for service, photographs, and digital evidence. Those records could establish the chronology and what damage was actually documented.

The videos and the missing plaque

The original Instagram post URLs have not been located or authenticated by Yuma Informed. Their posting dates, recording dates, account ownership, and whether the clips are complete all remain unresolved. It has also not been confirmed whether police ever received the material.

The available evidence does not establish who removed the plaque or damaged the flowers, or whether everyone shown in the reported footage took part in either incident.

No cemetery incident report, management statement, or repair record has been obtained. Whether the plaque was recovered or replaced, whether the flowers and memorial were restored, and whether there has been further damage are all unknown.

The shooting case is a separate matter

Garcia was one of two young men killed in the May 13, 2023, Yuma house-party shooting. KAWC's reporting at the time identified Garcia, 19, and Ande Blackthunder, 20, as the victims, attributing that identification to Yuma police.

In the shooting prosecution, KYMA reported that Aden Arviso pleaded guilty October 9 to one count of aggravated assault, described as a Class 3 felony, with sentencing set for November 5. Its current report says the agreement requires at least five years in prison and does not allow probation.

Before the plea, KYMA reported two first-degree-murder counts and four aggravated-assault counts. As Yuma Informed's earlier coverage explains, the signed plea agreement and the hearing minute entry are still needed to establish what happened to the other counts. A reported one-count plea does not establish that the murder charges were dismissed.

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office booking portal lists Arviso's Superior Court case as S1400CR202301441. A booking record is not a plea agreement or a sentencing order.

No independently verified evidence reviewed for this article links Arviso, or anyone connected to his criminal case, to the gravesite vandalism. Garcia's death is the background here. It does not establish a connection between the people involved in the shooting prosecution and the later allegations.

Why cemetery damage can be a felony

Arizona's aggravated-criminal-damage law specifically covers intentionally or recklessly defacing, damaging, or tampering with cemeteries and mortuaries, their property, and other facilities used for burial or memorializing the dead, without the owner's express permission. That protection can apply even when the damage falls well short of thousands of dollars.

Under A.R.S. 13-1604(A)(3) and (B), cemetery-related conduct meeting those requirements is a Class 6 felony in the lowest damage tier. Damage of at least $1,500 but under $10,000 makes it a Class 5 felony. Damage of $10,000 or more makes it a Class 4 felony. Repair or replacement costs, reasonable labor, materials, and other specified costs all count toward the damage amount.

Arizona's general criminal-damage statute, A.R.S. 13-1602, separately covers reckless damage to another person's property and certain forms of tampering. Its classifications vary with the conduct and the damage amount. Prosecutors would need evidence supporting the elements of whichever offense they chose to charge.

These provisions explain what someone could face. They do not establish that any offense has been proved in this case. Without verified charges, a damage assessment, and the relevant court records, there is no basis to assign anyone a felony classification or predict a sentence.

The immediate questions are concrete: when each incident happened, what police and cemetery staff documented, what became of the plaque, and whether the original videos can be authenticated.