Austin, TX
Half-naked woman was allegedly tortured and chained in Texas backyard for months by five ‘friends’ who didn’t ‘like her anymore’
A half-naked woman was allegedly tortured and chained up in the backyard of a Texas home for months — leading to the arrest of five people who allegedly starved and shot at the defenseless victim with BB guns.
The Austin Police Department responded to a home on the south side of the city at around 9 a.m. on Oct. 30 after a 911 call was made regarding a woman screaming for help and handcuffed to metal exercise equipment in the backyard, according to a press release.
Officers arrived to find the unnamed woman suffering from severe injuries, naked from the waist down, and shackled to a punching bag stand.
The first responders quickly sprang into action and attempted to free the woman, but “due to the conditions of the restraints,” they had to call in the Austin Fire Department to bring special equipment to cut through the metal.
“The woman showed signs of physical distress and had visible injuries consistent with prolonged restraint,” police said.
As they worked to free the woman, five adults inside the home noticed what was happening and tried to flee, but were immediately caught and detained.
Police also found two small children living at the home who were placed in the care of Child Protective Services for safety and support.
The suspects — Michelle Garcia, 51, Crystal Garcia, 21, Mache Carney, 32, Juan Pablo Castro, 30, and Maynard Lefevers, 21 — had allegedly held the victim captive for months, police said.
The victim told investigators that she’d been friends with Michelle Garcia, but stated that the group “at some point, they decided they no longer liked her,” and the five decided to keep her as a captive, according to an affidavit obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.
She said she was forced to live outside for weeks and beaten whenever she tried to flee. It’s unclear when the victim was taken captive and exactly how many months she was held.
Detectives said the woman was fed just one plate of food a day and shackled to a metal exercise stand — sometimes with both wrists locked behind her.
Michelle Garcia allegedly told investigators she limited the woman to one meal a day because she thought the victim had gotten “chunky.”
However, investigators said the woman appeared severely malnourished.
The victim also said that the night before being found, her pants slipped down and she “got in trouble.” She was then shot with a BB gun, cuffed to a backyard stand and left there half-naked overnight as “punishment” while temperatures plunged into the 40s, the affidavit revealed.
During her captivity, she sustained extensive injuries, including open wounds, severe swelling of the wrists, loss of tissue from her hands and feet, widespread scarring from BB gun pellets, and significant facial trauma.
After being transported to a local hospital, doctors determined her injuries matched weeks of torture and restraint. Scans also found a BB was lodged in her right eye.
Castro allegedly told police he shot the woman with an electric rifle-style BB gun because he “didn’t want to touch her.”
He also allegedly admitted that when he would get home from work, he would grab the BB gun from his closet, and “chase her around the yard,” expressing that he “f–king hates her,” according to the affidavit.
One of the children found at the home — a four-year-old boy identified as Castro’s son — said his dad shot the woman whenever she was “bad,” and that his mom, Carney, usually stood by and watched.
All five suspects were arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, injury to the elderly or disabled, and unlawful restraint. They are all currently locked up at the Travis County Jail on $305,000 bail.
Carney and Michelle Garcia return to court on Nov. 18 and 21, while Crystal Garcia, Castro, and Lefevers are set to appear on Dec. 15.
The case remains under investigation.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Police Department stated that SWAT was responding to “an incident” in the 9400 block of Grouse Meadow Ln. Sunday evening.
Officials first let the public know of the incident around 7:30 p.m.
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The call came in around 5:30 p.m., and SWAT was activated at approximately 7:10 p.m.
Police stated that the call originally was reported as a robbery service after a robbery occurred a few days ago. A suspect reportedly assaulted someone inside an apartment at the address after returning there and forcing entry.
Both the suspect and the victim live at the apartment complex,
APD stated that they would provide more information in a media briefing. The time of the briefing is unknown.
CBS Austin has a crew on the way to the scene.
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This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.
A brand new one from Carter Faith.
Last weekend was a big one for country music. The ACM Awards took over Las Vegas, George Strait did a two-night run at Austin, Texas’ Moody Center, and Treaty Oak Revival took over Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. While most people were in one location for the whole weekend, Carter Faith was jumping around as she was opening up for George Strait, and then had to jet over to Vegas for her ACM Awards performance of “If I Had Never Lost My Mind.”
The ACM Album of the Year nominee blew her performance out of the water and was riding a high all weekend as she had just announced a deluxe edition of her debut record, Cherry Valley Forever. Cherry Valley is filled with wild nights, heartbreak, growth, and lyrics that cut like a knife. The project turned a lot of heads here at Whiskey Riff, earning the title of the Best Debut Album of 2025 and landing at #15 on the 40 Best Country Albums of 2025. But beyond what we think here at Whiskey Riff, it turned heads by the big players securing a nomination for Album of the Year at the upcoming ACM Awards.
I am very excited to see how she expands on this sensational era, and she’s given fans a taste of what the deluxe record’s five additional tracks will feature by releasing “Ain’t Over Me Yet” in celebration of Cherry Valley Forever‘s announcement. Sonically, this tune fits perfectly into the Cherry Valley frame as Faith delivers the heartbreaking lyrics of meeting up with a former lover, knowing that the relationship is and has been over for quite some time. But she has a glimmer of faith that they might be able to turn things around and find that spark again. In the end, she ends up hurting her own feelings, having one night of pleasure.
Riding the high that release, Faith was on a roll of sharing new music, debuting a brand new song titled “If A Man’s From Texas.” Fitting to debut this one in Austin. The song is set to appear on Cherry Valley Forever, and, in true Carter Faith fashion, it’s a warning for women to watch out for boys who disguise themselves as men from Texas. The southern drawl might lure you in, but sure enough, you will see his true colors, and those Southern manners might be thrown out the door.
The upbeat tune has a slight Texas swing tempo that makes you want to dance, which is exactly what Faith does as she works the crowd, moving to every corner of the stage while delivering these catchy lyrics.
Cater Faith is on a roll, and I can’t wait to hear the studio cut of this one come July 24.
Check it out:
@heather2194 CHERRY VALLEY FOREVER TRACKS IN AUSTIN #CHERRYVALLEY #carterfaith #GEORGESTRAIT @Carter Faith ♬ original sound – Heather
And before you go, fire up “Ain’t Over Me Yet,” too:
Arizona State softball thrives with Red Mountain alum Brooklyn Ulrich
Arizona native Brooklyn Ulrich talks about her time growing up at Red Mountain and her journey to playing at Arizona State.
The Texas Longhorns refused to die, rallying late with a pinch-hit, two-run homer to overcome Arizona State, 4-3, in Game 2 of the Austin Super Regional Saturday night, May 23.
The Sun Devils have one more shot to beat the Longhorns and earn a trip to the Women’s College World Series, which would mark their first trip back since 2018. Game time on Sunday was still listed as TBD Saturday evening.
Arizona State catcher Samantha Swan, a native of nearby Georgetown, Texas, hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning, but the Sun Devils were unable to hold the 3-2 lead.
Each coach had a tough decision before the action began.
Arizona State’s Megan Bartlett chose to start Meika Lauppe instead of sending her ace, Kenzie Brown, back to the circle after a powerful performance in the Sun Devils’ Game 1 win.
Texas’ Mike White, albeit in a different position with his team’s season on the line, sent out his ace, Teagan Kavan for a second consecutive day.
ASU struck first when Brooklyn Ulrich doubled in Katie Chester in the top of the second inning.
Kavan appeared to run out of gas in the third inning as Taylor Windle doubled to lead off, and Kaylee Pond singled.
White replaced Kavan with Citlaly Gutierrez, but Swan drove home Windle, giving ASU a 2-0 lead.
Lauppe was able to keep Texas off the scoreboard through four innings, though she put runners on first and second with nobody out in the third before inducing a flyout and an inning-ending double play.
An error by third baseman Emily Schepp on a Kaia Altmeyer ground ball leading off the Texas fifth ended the night for Lauppe, who was replaced by Brown.
The Longhorns touched up the ASU ace with a double by Katie Stewart to knock in Altmeyer, and a game-tying base hit by Reese Atwell to score Stewart, but Brown struck out Leighann Goode to prevent further damage.
An inning later, leading by a run after the Swan homer, Brown allowed a one-out single to Ashton Maloney, retired Altmeyer on a fly to left, but then served up the pinch-hit blast by Victoria Hunter.
Gutierrez shut down the Sun Devils in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Swan had two of ASU’s six hits, and Brown allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with five strikeouts over her three innings of relief.
(This story has been updated to add information.)
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