Gary Haynes, OC Homicide No. 38: Tossed Off Storage Unit Loft and Left Overnight in Ants and Vomit


Gary Haynes, 52, of Oceanside, and another man got into a
confrontation with a couple in a North Manzanita Storage unit on North
Manzanita Street near West Katella Avenue in Orange Saturday night. Haynes was punched and thrown off a loft in the storage locker, where
he was left overnight in his own vomit and an army of ants. The
unidentified man with him was conked on the head with a gun butt, but he
managed to make it out of there and is expected to recover from his injuries.

He never told anyone about the friend left behind, however.
]


Haynes, who suffered a broken eye socket, crushed vertebrae, broken scapula and other injuries to his skull, died Thursday night. Now, the Orange Police Department (OPD) expects to charge an Anaheim couple originally arrested for Haynes' attempted murder with his murder.

But Lori Ward, Haynes' sister, wonders why the other victim left without either helping her brother or calling help for him. “I want to ask him why he left my brother there the way he did,” Ward reportedly told KTLA News. “My brother didn't deserve that. I'm not sure if I'm angrier at him or the people who beat him up because his so-called friend left him behind.”

According to Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams, 41-year-old Sandra Higareda was a former Haynes friend. She was arrested along with Steve Fry, 40.


Police don't know or aren't yet saying what sparked the confrontation. Nor are they saying what led them to suspect the couple. Fry was arrested Tuesday morning in Fullerton, while police picked up Higareda Wednesday afternoon in Santa Ana. They are currently being held in lieu of $500,000 bail each.

A man who was scheduled to meet Haynes Sunday morning found him unconscious in the storage unit and called Orange Police. Haynes was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he died four days later.

The Orange County Register, citing court records, reports that Fry pleaded guilty to more than a dozen
felonies in 1996, including multiple burglary, grand theft and forgery
charges, while Higareda pleaded guilty to felony
burglary charges in 1997, 2002 and 2003, auto theft charges in 1996 and
1997, and possession of a controlled substance charges in 2006.

Sounds like they were meant for each other.


View Larger Map

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *