Suspect pleads not guilty in Burbank double-stabbing

A man appeared in court Thursday accused of murder and attempted murder during a burglary following a knife attack at the $1.4 million Burbank home of a cherished mother and her mental health activist daughter.

Described as a “beautiful family,” Meera Varma, 25, who appears in pictures with Joe Biden and Oprah Winfrey, and her 59-year-old mom, Arti Varma, were stabbed at about 6am on Monday.

Her “joyful” mother, a beloved second-grade teacher at Bret Harte Elementary School in the city, died from multiple stab wounds.

Meera was able to call 911 despite her injuries and is described by police as being in stable condition.

Sergio Meza Fraire, 30, pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Judge Kerry White in Pasadena Superior Court during a five-minute arraignment hearing while wearing the same baggy grey t-shirt and jeans shorts he was arrested in.

He is facing one felony count of murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait, one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of first-degree residential burglary.

The suspect is also charged with using a deadly weapon — a knife — in the murder and attempted murder and “personally inflicted great bodily injury” to Meera.

Fraire, represented by public defender Mayda Dlores-Medrano, mumbled “yes” twice when asked by the judge if he understood the proceedings. No bail was granted.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the attack and whether Fraire had a prior connection to the family.

He was arrested by a heavily armed SWAT team a few hours after the slaying.

Ring doorbell footage exclusively obtained by the California Post showed Fraire being led away in handcuffs by officers from a rented apartment on East Palm Avenue in Burbank, just two miles from the scene.

Neighbors revealed he exited the ground-floor unit with his hands above his head after officers from the Burbank Police Department, with a search warrant, demanded he exit.

The attack happened at the Varma family’s 1,700 sq. ft. three-bedroom, three-bathroom home on the 2800 block of North Brighton Street, a quiet tree-lined road with well-maintained properties less than two miles from Burbank Airport.

Burbank PD Lt. Brent Fekety disclosed to the Post the suspect ran all the way from the victims’ home to the apartment he shared with his mom and sister.

Meera is well-known mental health expert who shared her know-how with Biden, Kamala Harris and Winfrey in a bid to bolster behavioral health care.

She also bravely spoke of her own personal struggles with mental health, revealing she had contemplated taking her own life in 2018 and gave a moving TEDx talk on the subject in 2023.

“We may think that we have six degrees of separation between ourselves and a person who has been affected by suicide,” she said.

“But I can guarantee that you all have only one degree of separation between yourself and a person who almost died by suicide. And that someone is me.”

She recalled that her mother had comforted her as she lay crying on her bedroom floor on that dark day when she wanted to take her own life.

“My mom squeezed me even tighter, looked me directly in the eyes and said, ‘I love you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m here,’” she said.

Arti is the second teacher from the same school to be killed in recent years.

Grieving friends honored her life and pal Cristina Strattan told ABC 7: “She was an amazing teacher, and she loved being a teacher. She was such a bright light. She was always so joyful, so proud of her kids.”

Her husband, Meera’s dad, was in India at the time of the stabbing. A neighbor told the Post: “They’re a beautiful family.”

An attorney at Pasadena court commented before the Fraire hearing: “There’s not a lot of murders in Burbank.”

The next court hearing is scheduled for June 12.

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