Casey Garcia said on social media that she dyed her hair and used skin tanner to look more like her daughter. Because this happened at a time when COVID protocols were still in place, she also benefited from being able to hide her face with a mask.
A Texas jury convicted a woman who pretended to be a 13-year-old student and attended a day of classes at her daughter's middle school.
Casey Garcia, 32, was found guilty of criminal trespassing and sentenced to six-months probation while also being required to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $700 probated fine, according to court records.
Detectives with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office arrested Garcia in 2021 after learning from administrators at San Elizario Middle School that she pretended to be a student at the school and attended classes while using her daughter's student identification card.
Garcia did not try to hide her actions that day, and uploaded video to both TikTok and YouTube.
“I said hello to the principal, and then I spoke to another faculty member, and then I went to all my classes," she said in an interview with Inside Edition Digital one week after her arrest back in 2021. "I even ate lunch without a mask."
She said on her social media accounts that she dyed her hair and used skin tanner to look more like her daughter. Because this happened at a time when COVID protocols were still in place, Garcia also benefited from being able to hide her face with a mask.
Garcia later claimed that her actions were meant to highlight safety issues at schools and the ease with which adults could gain access to these establishments.
She almost made it through the day, but her teacher during the seventh and final period of the day recognized that she was not a middle school student.
“I wanted to see if I could make it the entire day without anybody noticing,” Gacia said in the 2021 interview. "And I'd say up until seventh period. I think that's a very long day for a 30-year-old.”
Garcia said that the ongoing wave of school shootings also served as motivation for her actions.
“We have a problem. There have been one too many mass shootings in schools, elementary schools, colleges, high schools," Garcia said in 2021. "That is disgusting to think of that this could have been prevented just by putting metal detectors and more security.”
Garcia's attorney Theresa Caballero says that her client is happy to have avoided any jail time. A representative for the school district did not respond to a request for comment.
The San Elizario Independent School District Superintendent did release a statement in the wake of Garcia's arrest, saying: “While there was a breach in security by an individual associated as a parent with the school. We want to assure you that our security measures are being reviewed and evaluated.”
