Garcia, 25, jailed since brutal Christmas morning attack
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Alexander Garcia, a 25-year-old Twin Lakes man, faces sentencing Oct. 21 after he pleaded guilty to felony aggravated battery last week, according to a Kenosha County prosecutor.
Garcia, 25, was bound over for a trial scheduled Sept. 12, when a jury expected to hear charges related to the Christmas morning beating of 58-year-old Thomas Eppers Sr.
Originally, he stood accused of felony aggravated battery with intent to cause great bodily harm along and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to a criminal complaint.
But, according to online court records, at a Sept. 6 final pretrial hearing, the felony charge was amended to aggravated battery while the misdemeanor charge was dismissed.
According to the criminal complaint, Garcia faced a maximum 15 years in prison for the original felony charge, but it is not unknown whether the same applies to the amended charge.
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Burgoyne, who confirmed Garcia entered a guilty plea, declined to elaborate further.
The final pretrial had been originally scheduled for March 15, but incurred multiple delays, including a judge change and a new public defender.
Additionally, several key pieces of evidence, including DNA from the baseball bat allegedly used to beat Eppers Sr. was still awaiting analysis.
Garcia was intoxicated when he allegedly struck Eppers Sr. repeatedly in the head and torso with the bat, according to a criminal complaint.
Consequently, the blows rendered him unresponsive by the time officers arrived.
Twin Lakes Rescue transported Eppers to Aurora Memorial Hospital in Burlington, where Flight for Life helicopter airlifted him to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.
Garcia, who was staying at the residence with Eppers’ daughter, Abigail, had a previous altercation with Eppers, the complaint alleges.
In a January preliminary hearing, officers testified that the altercation took place in La Crosse, where Garcia was allegedly rude to the family.
Eppers Sr. responded, with claims he threw Garcia into a nearby body of water.
The full story will appear in the Sept. 23 print edition of the Twin Lakes Report.