Police Add Details of Child Murders in Lawrenceville

Officials said Monday that they were suspicious of Elvis Noe-Garcia early on, but relied on further investigative work to name him as an official suspect in the stabbing deaths of two Lawrenceville children.

Noe-Garcia, 23, in the murders of his sons, Bradley Garcia, 3, and Edward Garcia, 1. Garcia was also charged with assaulting his other child, a 3-year-old boy.

The weapon used in the killings has been identified as a kitchen knife, officials said Monday during a press gathering.

Initially, police suspected Antonio Cardenas-Rico, who was identified by Noe-Garcia as the assailant in the Feb. 9 assault. He was arrested based on information at the time, including a likely motivation for committing the crimes, said Danny Porter, district attorney for Gwinnett County.

It was at a local hospital, where Noe-Garcia was transported for stab wounds, that suspicions heightened about the father. Medical reports "gave some indication that the wounds may possibly be self-inflicted," Porter said.

"I think the police had sufficient information to go forward; they acted judiciously," Porter said about the initial charges.

After "they absolutely exonerated (Cardenas-Rico)," the district attorney said he moved quickly to drop the murder charges against Cardenas-Rico on Saturday morning.

Gwinnett County Police Chief Charles Walters added that it was "just great police work."

Porter said the death penalty could be a possible consideration in the case.

(Editor's note: Information for this updated story was provided by video footage from a press conference held Monday at Gwinnett County Police Department. The video was shot by Lawrenceville Patch Editor Vanzetta Evans.)