Dad tries to protect his daughter from boyfriend, ends up in a coma, Texas family says

A Texas dad was trying to protect his daughter from her boyfriend when he was attacked by the younger man, Austin police said, according to KEYE.

Now that father, Eric Garcia, is “fighting for his life” while in the hospital, according to a GoFundMe page made on behalf of his family.

His family says he’s in a coma, and the “diagnosis does not look good.”

In an arrest warrant obtained by KXAN, police said that Garcia tried defending his daughter from her boyfriend, 24-year-old Jaime Apodaca. They had been dating for about one month, the station reported.

Police reported that Apodaca was calling his girlfriend names on March 23, so the dad told him he needed to leave the home, KEYE reported. The daughter, boyfriend and father were all living in the same home, police said.

Apodaca did leave, “but then returned minutes later to retrieve some clothing,” KEYE reported off of the affidavit. “The father entered the room where the two of them argued, and the victim’s daughter says Apodaca struck her father in the upper body,” police say.

That’s when the daughter tried to pull her boyfriend away from her dad, according to the report, KXAN said.

The arrest warrant says that Apodaca then punched his girlfriend and knocked out one of her teeth, the station reported. The fight continued between Garcia and his daughter’s boyfriend, according to police.

“The daughter told investigators her father attempted to fight back, but Apodaca struck him, causing him to fall to the ground,” KEYE reported from police.

Apodaca left the home, and both Garcia and the daughter confronted him again, the report says, according to KEYE.

While in front of the home, police say, Apodaca “allegedly struck the victim again, causing him to fall and hit his head on the concrete sidewalk, leaving a blood stain behind,” KEYE reported.

Hitting his head on the cement caused “major brain swelling and injury,” according to a Facebook Fundraiser for the Garcia family.

Garcia’s skull was fractured, according to the GoFundMe, and it took responding paramedics over 15 minutes to bring his heartbeat back.

He is now in the intensive care unit, according to the Facebook Fundraiser.

“He tried to split up a fight. He was such a quiet, nice, humble person, you know. He didn’t really deserve what happened to him,” friend Rock Schouman said, according to KXAN.

Travis County Jail records show that Apodaca is still in custody and facing several charges, including aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and assault causing bodily injury.

This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 1:55 PM.