Arti Varma taught first grade at Bret Harte Elementary before she was killed at home.
BURBANK, Calif. — A Burbank elementary school community is mourning Arti Varma, a first-grade teacher killed in a home stabbing that also left her daughter hospitalized and led to murder charges against a local man.
Varma, 59, worked at Bret Harte Elementary School, where district officials described her as a teacher who brought care, warmth and passion to her classroom. Her death has moved beyond a school tragedy into a criminal case against Sergio Meza Fraire, 30, who prosecutors say broke into the family’s home while the women were asleep and stabbed both of them.
The first public notice of the violence came from North Brighton Street, not from the courthouse. Police and paramedics were called to the 2800 block at about 6 a.m. April 20 after a report that two people had been stabbed inside a residence. Officers found Varma and her daughter wounded. Both were taken to a local hospital. Varma died there, while her daughter, 25-year-old Meera Varma, survived and remained under medical care. Police first described the daughter as stable after the attack, while prosecutors later said she remained hospitalized.
At Bret Harte Elementary, Varma’s name quickly became the center of grief. Burbank Unified School District said she was deeply valued and had built meaningful relationships with students, colleagues and families. The district said her loss was felt across the school system. Friends told local television reporters she loved teaching and carried joy into her work. Neighbors also recalled her kindness, giving the public a portrait of an educator known in daily life by children, parents and staff, not by the criminal charges that would follow her death.
Prosecutors filed the case April 23. Fraire is charged with one felony count of murder with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of first-degree residential burglary. The complaint also alleges that he personally used a knife and personally inflicted great bodily injury on Meera Varma. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said the killing left an entire community grieving and said his office would seek to hold the defendant accountable.
The charging document gives the clearest official timeline released so far. Prosecutors say Fraire broke into the home sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on April 20, when the victims were sleeping. Around 6 a.m., they allege, he entered one of the victim’s bedrooms and repeatedly stabbed both women. Investigators have not publicly explained what led them to conclude the attack was targeted. Police have said the motive and any relationship between Fraire and the women remained under investigation.
For much of April 20, detectives worked in the neighborhood and beyond it. Burbank police said investigators interviewed witnesses, canvassed for evidence and reviewed surveillance video. Those steps led them to identify Fraire as a person of interest. At about 10 p.m., a SWAT team served a warrant at a residence in the 500 block of East Palm Avenue, where Fraire was believed to be staying. Police said he was arrested without incident and that evidence related to the stabbing was recovered there.
Fraire entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment in Pasadena on April 23. The court ordered him held without bail. If convicted as charged, he faces life in prison without parole or death, though prosecutors said the death penalty decision will be made later. The next court date was scheduled for June 12 in Department H of the Pasadena Courthouse. The charges remain allegations, and Fraire is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Meera Varma’s own public life added another layer to the case. She is known as a mental health activist and public speaker whose work has been linked in media reports to national figures, including Oprah Winfrey and members of the Biden family. Earlier, she had spoken about the support she drew from her mother and grandmother. After the attack, family friend Victor Goli described the father and husband of the victims learning the news while in India. Goli said he was crying and struggled to speak.
The killing also drew attention because Bret Harte had endured another teacher’s death in recent years. Karyn Lombardo, a kindergarten teacher at the same school, was killed in Burbank in 2024 in an unrelated case. The reference spread through local coverage as families and staff tried to absorb another violent loss tied to their campus. District officials focused their public statement on Varma’s service to students and the lasting impact of her classroom work.
For now, the school community remained in mourning, the police investigation remained active and the criminal case was moving toward the June 12 Pasadena hearing.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.