Police said the suspect remained at large after the early Monday attack inside a North Brighton Street home.
BURBANK, CA — A woman was killed and her adult daughter was critically injured after a predawn stabbing inside a single-family home in Burbank on Monday, authorities said, setting off a homicide investigation and a search for a suspect who had not been arrested by early Tuesday.
The attack shook a quiet residential block and quickly drew attention beyond the neighborhood because a family friend identified the victims as Arti Varma, a teacher in the Burbank school district, and her daughter, Meera Varma, a nationally known mental health advocate. Police confirmed that two adult women were found with stab wounds inside the house on the 2800 block of North Brighton Street at about 6 a.m. Monday. One later died at a hospital. The second survived with serious injuries. Investigators said the relationship between the suspect and the victims was still under review, leaving major questions about motive and how the attacker got into the home.
Burbank police said officers and paramedics were dispatched shortly after 6 a.m. after a report that two people had been stabbed inside the residence. When they arrived, they found both women wounded and rushed them to a local hospital. One later died from her injuries, and the other remained hospitalized. Officers then searched the surrounding area for the attacker but did not find anyone matching the description they had been given. By Monday night, the scene on North Brighton Street had become a focal point for neighbors, who watched investigators move in and out of the property while yellow tape blocked access. Victor Goli, a close family friend who spoke publicly about the victims, said the news came as a shock. “It was kind of a shock,” Goli said, describing the family’s reaction after learning of the violence inside the home.
Police did not publicly release the women’s names in their initial statement, but Goli identified them as Arti Varma and Meera Varma, saying Arti died from her wounds and Meera was left critically injured. He said Meera was “fighting for her life” in the hospital. Goli also said Arti’s husband, who is Meera’s father, was in India when he learned what had happened. “He couldn’t even speak right,” Goli said of the father’s reaction. “He was crying.” Investigators have not said whether they believe the stabbings were targeted, whether there were signs of forced entry, or whether the suspect knew the victims. Those unknowns remained central to the case Tuesday. Police also did not say whether any weapon had been recovered or whether surveillance video from nearby homes had produced a clear image of the person they were seeking.
The killing also carried an added public dimension because of the identities described by friends and in public records. Arti Varma was known as an educator in Burbank schools. Meera Varma has built a national profile as a mental health activist and speaker, work that grew from her own openness about mental illness and suicide prevention. In past public appearances and biographies, Meera Varma described working with major nonprofit, academic and federal partners on youth mental health issues. A 2023 University of California profile said she had advocated at school board meetings in her hometown of Burbank, worked with the Born This Way Foundation and taken part in White House mental health events. In that profile, she spoke warmly about the support she received from the women in her family, especially her mother and grandmother, and called them pillars in her recovery and advocacy work. That history gave Monday’s violence a painful contrast that friends and followers were only beginning to absorb.
As of early Tuesday, the case remained in its first public stage: a homicide investigation with no announced arrest and limited official detail. Burbank police said investigators were still working to identify and locate the suspect and asked anyone with information to contact the department’s Investigations Division. The department’s initial release did not include a suspect name, age, gender or detailed description, and it did not say whether detectives were pursuing one person or multiple leads. Police likewise did not announce any charges, search warrants or court filings tied to the case. The next likely milestones are the formal public identification of the woman who died, further updates on the daughter’s condition and any police statement clarifying the suspect’s connection, if any, to the household. A fuller account may also depend on forensic evidence gathered from the home, interviews with neighbors and relatives, and any available security footage from the block.
On Tuesday, the street where the attack happened stood at the center of a community balancing grief with uncertainty. The home sits in a residential part of Burbank where violent crime is uncommon enough to draw immediate neighborhood attention when patrol cars, paramedics and investigators converge before sunrise. Neighbors told local television crews they were stunned by the scale of the violence and by the possibility that an assailant could still be out there. For those who knew the family, the public facts offered only a partial picture of a much larger loss. Friends described a household known for education, advocacy and community ties. That made the unanswered questions more difficult: who entered the home, why the women were attacked and what police will learn from the evidence left behind. For now, the case remains both a homicide inquiry and a deeply personal tragedy unfolding in public view.
Authorities said the suspect had not been found by early Tuesday, and investigators had not publicly described a motive. The next major update is expected when police release more about the victims, the suspect and the evidence collected at the North Brighton Street home.
Author note: Last updated April 21, 2026.