A California elementary school teacher is dead, and her daughter — one of the country’s most recognizable young voices on mental health — is recovering in a hospital bed after both women were stabbed inside their Burbank home early Monday morning.
Burbank police received the call just after 6 a.m. Officers arrived at a residence on the 2800 block of North Brighton Street to find 59-year-old Arti Varma and her 25-year-old daughter Meera with stab wounds.
Both were rushed to the hospital. Arti did not survive.
Detectives moved fast. The investigation included interviewing witnesses, canvassing for evidence, and examining surveillance video. By Monday night, they had their man.
Sergio Fraire was arrested by a SWAT team around 10 p.m. on Monday, April 20, and was being held on suspicion of murder in lieu of $2 million bail, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s inmate records.
The residence where Fraire was detained sits about 2.5 miles from the scene of the crime. He did not resist. Evidence related to the crime was recovered at the location.
Fraire has been booked on murder and attempted murder charges, and the case is now moving to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for formal review.
A Burbank police officer noted that “the relationship between the suspect and the victims, as well as the motive, is still under investigation.” No connection between Fraire and the Varma family has been publicly established.
Arti Varma taught first grade at Bret Harte Elementary School in the Burbank Unified School District. Those who knew her say the classroom was her calling.
“She was an amazing teacher, and she loved being a teacher,” said friend Cristina Strattan to ABC 7. “She was such a bright light. She was always so joyful, so proud of her kids.”
The district released a statement saying, “Ms. Varma was a deeply valued member of the Burbank Unified community. She was known not only for her dedication to teaching, but for the care, warmth, and passion she brought to her work every day.”
The loss carries a particularly grim distinction. Arti Varma is the second Bret Harte Elementary School teacher to be killed in the past two years.
On May 7, 2024, 57-year-old kindergarten teacher Karyn Lombardo was killed in her Burbank home, allegedly by her son.
The district said it was providing counseling and mental health support services to students and staff at Bret Harte Elementary in the wake of the tragedy.
Meera Varma, who survived the attack, has spent years building a public platform around mental health awareness. She has worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, delivered a TEDx talk, and has been cited as the youngest speaker in the history of TEDxUCLA.
She has appeared at events alongside Oprah Winfrey and former President Joe Biden.
In that TEDx address, Meera spoke with striking candor about her own brush with suicide.
“We may think that we have six degrees of separation between ourselves and a person who has been affected by suicide,” she said. “But I can guarantee that you all have only one degree of separation between yourself and a person who almost died by suicide. And that someone is me.”
She described a moment in April 2018 when she lay crying on her bedroom floor — and credited her mother with pulling her back.
“My mom squeezed me even tighter, looked me directly in the eyes and said, ‘I love you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m here,” Meera recalled.
Arti’s husband and Meera’s father was traveling in India at the time of the stabbing. A family friend said he was hysterical upon being told the news.
As of Tuesday morning, Meera remained hospitalized. She was listed in stable condition.
Investigators continue working to establish a motive and any possible link between Fraire and the family.
