Homicide Report > Dismembered man had kind nature, family recalls
Dismembered man had kind nature, family recalls
The family of a man who authorities said was killed during a robbery and then dismembered say his generous spirit may have led to his death.
Herbert Tracy White, a 49-year-old black man, was found dead Nov. 29 at the Continental Hotel near downtown's skid row. In 2008, Tommy Jackson, a 58-year-old black man, was stabbed to death at the same location.
A maid at the hotel discovered White's severed limbs stuffed in a backpack. The rest of his body was found wrapped in a blanket under a bed in the hotel room. A knife was recovered at the scene.
The Pennsylvania couple who had rented the $40-a-night room — Edward Garcia Jr., 36, and his wife, Melissa Hope Garcia, 25, are wanted on suspicion of murder and torture.
Investigators used physical evidence left at the scene and witness’ statements to identify the couple.
White's family said his kind nature often meant he left family functions early to provide rides or otherwise help alcoholics in the middle of the night. White's wife, Annie Coty White, 73, said her husband left their Hollywood home early on the morning of Nov. 28 after receiving a phone call from a person asking him for a ride.
Police suspect White met the Garcias in Hollywood, befriended them and gave them money, said Det. Richard Arciniega of the Los Angeles Police Department. At some point, White accompanied the Garcias to the Continental Hotel where the couple had been staying for several days.
On the night of the slaying, a hotel security guard reported receiving a complaint about a commotion in the Garcias' room, police said. But when the guard went to investigate, the couple promised that they'd keep quiet and the guard left.
Police suspect that the Garcias were looking to rob White before killing him.
Reporter Nardine Saad has more on the story: L.A. slaying victim's kind nature may have cost him his life
Top photo: David White, left, and Anthony White, brothers of Herbert White, appear at the LAPD’s Newton Area station with their mother, Elizabeth Peterson. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times.
Middle photo: Herbert White. Credit: KTLA.
Bottom photo: (left) Edward and (right) Melissa Garcia. Credit: LAPD.
Six reader comments
I am sure that White is with the Lord. I t is scary nowadays to even do good to your neighbors.
Dec. 11, 2010 at 4:36 a.m.
sounds like something the skidrow drifters would imagine, I don`t think they would ever do it.
Dec. 15, 2010 at 9:54 a.m.
Mr. White sounds like a wonderful man and his murder is surely a tragedy, but was it really necessary to highlight the fact that he was black? Would the author of the article have done that had the killers also been black? Or if the killers had been black and the victim white?
The perpetrators of this awful crime were meth heads...not skinheads. This senseless tragedy had nothing to do with race. For the author to try and turn this into a hate crime is both dishonest and irresponsible.
Dec. 15, 2010 at 12:02 p.m.
— Arthur Jackson; please read the FAQ's of this blog.
Why are you offended about the basic facts of the crime? Do you have a problem in thinking that just because the deceased was black; whites, asians and latino's don't care?
Sounds like your a victim of your own PC thinking.
Dec. 15, 2010 at 8:50 p.m.
How can people do such awful things and truly believe no one will see them. God sees all. He looks just like the type of person that would commit such an act, a pitiful little nobody.
Dec. 16, 2010 at 12:24 p.m.
Arthur - The race of the victim is always described in the Homicide Report. Look through all the other postings and you can see for yourself. Read the post below this one:
At a news conference, Beverly Hills police said Chasen, a 64-year-old white woman,
So to answer your question YES the author would mention race if the killer is black and the victim is white.
Quit being so sensitive. The author was repoting the crime. I don't see anything in the article trying to make it sound like a hate crime, if anything it sounds like a guy that was a bit nieve and was taken advantage of.
You are the one making race an issue.
Dec. 22, 2010 at 1:42 a.m.
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