'Killer' mom breaks down in tears as she pleads not guilty to murdering her four-year-old son and dumping his body on the side of the road

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A Washington state woman quietly sobbed in court as she pled not guilty to the grisly stabbing death of her four-year-old son.

Janet Ernestina Garcia, 27, was charged last week with first-degree murder with aggravating factors of domestic violence and a vulnerable victim.

The charges came a month after Garcia was arrested in connection to the death of her son, Ariel. The little boy's lifeless body was found near a military base south of Tacoma.

Prosecutors allege Garcia abandoned the toddler after stabbing him over a dozen times. An autopsy found over 16 'sharp-force' wounds on the front of his body and a 'cluster' of others injuries on his upper back.

The Everett woman appeared in Snohomish County Superior Court Monday, unrestrained and clad in civilian clothes. She wept quietly after the plea reading and began to say something to the judge before her attorney stopped her.

Janet Ernestina Garcia (right), 27, cried during a plea reading in Snohomish County Superior Court on Monday

Garcia was charged with first-degree murder with aggravating factors of domestic violence and a vulnerable victim in connection to the death of her son, Ariel. The four-year-old's lifeless body was dumped over a fence at a military base last month, covered in stab wounds

While defense attorney Kathryn Fraser (with Garcia) objected to probable cause for the murder charge, deputy prosecutor Martina Wong (far left) asserted that the boy's injuries showed the attack went on for a 'prolonged' period of time

Garcia's lawyer, Kathryn Fraser, objected to probable cause for the murder charge, arguing that there wasn’t enough evidence to show the killing was premeditated.

But deputy prosecutor Martina Wong asserted that the little boy's stab wounds indicated the attack went on for a 'prolonged' period of time, and that Garcia had been exhibiting violent behavior days before his death.

Wong also noted that defensive wounds were found on Ariel's arm. 

Judge Cindy Larsen ultimately decided that there was sufficient evidence to establish probable cause.

Fraser also recommended Larsen knock down Garcia’s $5 million bail to $500,000. She argued the preschooler's murder wasn't 'brutal and cold-hearted,' but 'a tragic circumstance of the failure of meaningful access to addiction treatment and mental health resources.'

Garcia had a history of 'suffering from mental illness and addiction' before Ariel's death, Fraser said.

Larsen reduced Garcia's bail to $3 million, noting that it was 'unusually high.'

Garcia had a history of 'suffering from mental illness and addiction' before Ariel's death, the defense attorney noted

A day before Ariel's disappearance, the boy's grandmother had been granted emergency minor guardianship of him and his brother, claiming Garcia was unfit to care for the boys

Garcia and her son were reported missing from an Everett apartment. Left in their wake was a large bloodstain and a bloody, child-sized handprint

Ariel was reported missing on March 27. A day earlier, his maternal grandmother, Maria Garcia, had secured emergency guardianship of the little boy and his seven-year-old brother.

The grandmother alleged that her daughter's drug habits had worsened and rendered her unable to care for her children. She described Garcia's behavior as 'very violent and unpredictable.'

'She is on drugs, she is not capable of parenting,' Maria Garcia wrote in her petition. 'Her want for drugs and alcohol makes her leave.'

On March 28, the mother of Garcia’s ex-boyfriend reported Garcia and her son missing from the Everett apartment where she had been letting them stay.

When police spoke with Maria Garcia, she said she had gone to the apartment to serve the guardianship papers when she spotted blood in the unit. 

A prosecuting attorney noted the presence of a large bloodstain with a child-sized bloody handprint beside it in court documents.

Maria Garcia called her daughter, who told her she had put Ariel up for adoption and was in a rehab center near Vancouver.

When a police officer spoke with the 27-year-old, she told a different story - claiming Ariel had fallen out of bed and injured his head, according to court documents.

When asked where the little boy was, Garcia changed her answer three times: first saying Portland, then Seattle, then to stay with a 'friend' whose address she could not recall. She hung up on the officer.

On the afternoon of March 28, Garcia pulled up alongside Joint Base Lewis-McChord in her Nissan Sentra. She retrieved a 'toddler-sized object' and left it in the woods

Garcia claimed she'd taken Ariel to a hospital after he hit his head, but the 'wait was too long,' so she left him with a friend before taking a bus to Ridgefield. However, her sedan was later found in a parking lot in Ridgefield

Garcia (pictured in court on Friday) originally had her bail set at $5 million, but the amount was reduced to $3 million on Monday

At around 1:42 p.m. that day, Garcia pulled up alongside Joint Base Lewis-McChord in her Nissan Sentra.

A security camera captured her stepping out of the car and retrieving a 'toddler-sized object' wrapped in white cloth. She walked into a wooded area and returned empty-handed.

Around four hours later, Garcia was seen trespassing at a group home in Ridgefield with blood speckled on her clothes. Deputies from the Clark County Sheriff's Office arrested her. 

She gave answers that were 'inconsistent and difficult to follow' during questioning, police said.

However, Garcia maintained that Ariel had fallen and hit his head that morning.

She claimed that she'd taken him to a hospital in Everett, but the 'wait was too long,' so she dropped him off with a friend in Seattle before taking a bus to Ridgefield to attend addiction treatment.

During the interview, deputies found her car in the parking lot of a bar in Ridgefield. Surveillance video showed a person who matched her appearance parking the car and walking north, police said.

Garcia’s 7-year-old son also sat for an interview. He told detectives that his mother 'choked' and 'dragged' him down a staircase and off his bed, injuring his head.'

The Clark County Sheriff's Office initially arrested Janet Garcia on a single charge of giving a false statement to a public servant.

She was booked into the Clark County Jail on $1,000 bond, despite prosecutors' requests to set it at $50,000. 

The following night, Everett police found Ariel's body. He had been dumped over a fence line at the military base with stab wounds on his chest, abdomen and back, according to court documents.

On March 29, Garcia was arrested on charges of murder in the first and second degree and assault of a child in the first degree. Those charges were adjusted last week.

During Monday's hearing, the judge ordered Garcia to have no contact with her surviving son. She is to have no contact with minors if released on bail.

Her trial is set to begin June 7.