A 27-year-old man pleaded not guilty on Sept. 15 to fatally shooting his mother near Reed Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in Pacific Beach on Sept. 13.
Mary Garcia, 65, was found wounded at 12:30 a.m. after someone called San Diego Police about an injured woman on the beach in the 700 block of Reed Avenue. She had one shot to her upper body and was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Her identity was made public on Sept. 15 after her son, Daniel Caldera, was arraigned in her murder.
Caldera appeared on a video screen from the central jail before San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren with attorney Stephen Cline, who was appearing for him only for the arraignment.
Cline did not want to discuss bail as he will not be representing Caldera and Halgren agreed to appoint someone from the public defender to represent him when he next appears in court on Sept. 22.
“He has a psychiatric history,” said Cline to the judge, adding that he had not received psychiatric medications since he has been in jail.
Halgren said she would recommend that Caldera be screened and evaluated to receive psychiatric medications while in jail.
Halgren kept the bail figure at no bail. A Sept. 29 preliminary hearing was set, but it is likely it will be changed as Caldera will be receiving another attorney soon.
Nothing about the facts of the case was disclosed and the motive is not known. Garcia was apparently shot at a beach just south of Crystal Pier.
Caldera is charged with murder and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which means he has a criminal record. The prosecutor did not disclose what offense that was.
“First, our office extends our deepest condolences to the family of Miss Garcia,” said Deputy District Attorney Paige Woodward after the arraignment.
“We would ask that if anybody has information on this case to please contact the San Diego Police Department because this is an ongoing investigation,” said Woodward.
Police arrested Caldera at 11 a.m. on Sept 13, about 11 hours after the shooting, in the 4400 block of Mission Boulevard. A press release said detectives had probable cause to believe that Caldera killed his mother.
