The Dallas Police Department announced on Wednesday the arrest of 25-year-old Oscar Sanchez Garcia “in connection to three homicides in Southwest Dallas.”
This comes roughly a week after Long Island, New York, investigators arrested the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer, who’s been charged with murdering three women believed to be sex workers.
To help visualize the three Dallas crimes, we’ve put together a timeline detailing what we know about the victims and the accused.
Monday, March 13
On March 13, Dallas police arrested Sanchez Garcia — who was born on Feb. 12, 1998 — on a charge of assault family violence, court records show. Saturday, April 22
On the morning of April 22, officers were called to the 200 block of Santa Fe Avenue, according to DPD. There, they discovered a dead woman in an open field.Police located the body of Kimberly Robinson, 60, “in a grassy area under a DART train bridge,” according to NBC-DFW.
Saturday, June 24
The body of 25-year-old Cherish Gibson was found the morning of June 24, according to local authorities. Officers were again sent to the 200 block of Santa Fe Avenue and learned that Gibson had been stabbed. The owner of an adult bookstore on Harry Hines Boulevard later told WFAA that police had accessed video surveillance footage from his establishment. Gibson's phone had reportedly pinged near his shop, close to where she was last seen.
Tuesday, July 4
Murmurings of a potential spree murderer began circulating on social media.On the Fourth of July, a TikTok user posted a now-viral video claiming that a serial killer was at-large in Dallas. It had received some 175,400 likes as of Thursday afternoon.
Wednesday, July 5
On July 5, a Facebook user wrote in a post that soon went viral: “There’s a serial killer in Dallas, ladies be careful.” As of Thursday afternoon, the post had been shared 225 times.Saturday, July 15
Dallas police were called out to a field this past Saturday at around 9:10 p.m. after someone notified 911 of “human remains,” according to the department. Officers reported to the 800 block of Brazos Street, where they uncovered the body of a woman who has yet to be identified.It’s a roughly six-minute drive from this victim’s location to the 200 block of Santa Fe Avenue, where the other two women were discovered, according to Google Maps.
Monday, July 17
On Monday, the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy of the still-unidentified victim, according to DPD. Authorities determined her cause of death to be homicide. Tuesday, July 18
Dallas police on Tuesday announced in a news release that detectives were investigating the three homicides. The release stated that the department hadn’t yet determined the deaths to be linked, but that “at least two of the victims have possible ties” to sex work.“Out of an abundance of caution, and in the interest of public safety, the department wants to inform this population of this trend,” the release continued. “The investigations into all three cases are ongoing.”
The Sex Workers Outreach Project-USA notes that sex workers may be targeted by violent people who don’t fear repercussions.
Serial killers in particular prey on sex workers because of their vulnerability and marginalized status. One survey of 30 street sex workers found that 80% of respondents had endured threats or actual violence while on the job.
Meanwhile, WFAA reported on Tuesday that all three Dallas victims had been discovered “with stab wounds in empty fields.”
Wednesday, July 19
After detectives rounded up enough evidence to nab Sanchez Garcia, he was arrested Wednesday, according to a DPD news release. “He will be charged with three counts of murder,” the release continued.
Sanchez Garcia was booked into the Dallas County Jail at 11:11 p.m., records show. It is unclear whether he has an attorney. He’s being held on a bond totaling $4 million.
Police have not revealed any potential motives for the killings.
Thursday, July 20
In an email to the Observer, a DPD spokesperson said: “It was great police work and evidence collected that led to the arrest — we do not release what specific type of evidence.” Our questions about whether police are officially classifying the homicides as the work of “serial killer,” and whether Sanchez Garcia is suspected in any additional homicides, went unanswered.
That said, Encyclopedia Britannica defines “serial murder” as the “unlawful homicide of at least two people carried out by the same person (or persons) in separate events occurring at different times.”
If you have information related to these cases, Dallas police ask that you contact Detective Christopher Walton at [email protected] or 214-701-8453, or Detective David Grubbs at [email protected] or 469-540-6377.
