Police say the suspect had not been arrested as of late Monday while neighbors and friends mourned the family.
BURBANK, Calif. — A woman was killed and her adult daughter was critically injured after a stabbing inside a home in Burbank early Monday, authorities said, setting off a search for a suspect and leaving a quiet neighborhood shaken.
Burbank police said officers were called to the 2800 block of North Brighton Street at about 6 a.m. after a report of a stabbing. Officers found two women with stab wounds and both were taken to a hospital. One of the victims later died, police said. Friends and neighbors identified the women as Arti Varma and her daughter, Meera Varma, though police had not publicly confirmed their names by late Monday. Investigators also had not announced a motive or said what relationship, if any, the suspect had to the victims.
The violence unfolded just after sunrise on a residential street where neighbors said the family was well known. Police taped off the property as detectives moved in and out of the house through the morning. Authorities released few details about how the attack began, but said the case remained an active homicide investigation. A neighbor, Victor Goli, said the victims were a mother and daughter and said the family’s friends were struggling to understand what happened. Another nearby resident said surveillance footage from the area was turned over to investigators after apparently showing a person leaving the scene.
Friends described Arti Varma as a beloved first-grade teacher at Bret Harte Elementary School in the Burbank Unified School District. School records list her as a first-grade teacher there. Cristina Strattan, a friend of the family, said Arti loved teaching and brought warmth to the people around her. Neighbors said she often decorated the home for Diwali and took pride in sharing her culture with others. The loss rippled quickly through both the neighborhood and the school community, where families and coworkers were already familiar with grief after another Bret Harte teacher was killed in a separate case in 2024.
Friends also said Meera Varma, who survived the attack and was hospitalized in critical condition, is a nationally known mental health activist. Her public biography says she has worked in youth mental health advocacy for more than a decade and has appeared with national figures including Oprah Winfrey, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Kamala Harris and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The sharp contrast between that public work and the violence at home deepened the shock for people who knew the family. By Monday night, police still had not said whether the attack was random, targeted or connected to someone known to the victims.
Another layer of anguish came from the family’s distance at the time of the attack. Goli said Arti’s husband and Meera’s father was in India when he learned what had happened. Neighbors said news of the stabbing spread quickly as police cars and ambulances filled the block. Some residents said they were stunned by the scale of the attack in a part of Burbank more often associated with school runs and family homes than homicide investigations. The uncertainty left many waiting for police to explain how the suspect got into the house and whether any immediate threat remained.
Police said the relationship, if any, between the suspect and the victims remained under investigation. No arrest had been announced by late Monday, and investigators were asking anyone with information to come forward. The next major step in the case is expected to be a fuller police update on the suspect search, the victims’ identities and the sequence of events inside the home.
Author note: Last updated April 21, 2026.