Daughter testifies her mother and stepfather are to blame for death of Clovis teacher

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Key Takeaways
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• A 12-year-old testified that Misty and Antonio Gomez killed Geoffrey Bernardi.
• Bernardi's beaten body was found near a canal, and he died two days later.
• Antonio fled to Mexico, then Misty and their two daughters joined him.

The 12-year-old daughter of accused killer Misty Rose Gomez named her mother and step-father in court Monday as the people responsible for the brutal death of Clovis Unified teacher Geoffrey Bernardi.

The daughter, whose name is not being used because of her age, broke down and cried several times as she testified about how she and her sister were spirited away to Mexico by her mother to avoid arrest for the alleged murder of Bernardi.

She testified about knowing her mother, Misty Rose Gomez, 32, was dating Bernardi despite still being married to Antonio Garcia Gomez, 40. Her mother also confessed to her that she and her husband “did something bad.”

“They killed Geoffrey,” she testified.

Prosecutor Samantha Dukes asked the daughter if she knew why her mother and stepfather would hurt Bernardi, a technical education teacher for the Clovis Unified School District whose beaten body was found near a canal at Barstow and Peach avenues on Dec. 18. He died two days later in a hospital.

The daughter said her mother told her that Bernardi was taking money for them and that he owed them.

Bernardi’s mother, Erin Adams, described a much different relationship between her son and Misty Gomez of Dinuba. She said he had fallen head over heels for Gomez, a woman he met on a dating app. But after a few weeks of dating, they began to argue and were having relationship trouble, she testified.

Adams met Misty once on Nov. 12 when Bernardi took her to his mothers home in Shaver Lake.

About a month later at about 1 a.m., she received a panicked phone call from Misty Gomez, telling Adams that Bernardi had been attacked while they were walking on a nearby canal bank.

“She was hysterical,” Adams testified. “She said a homeless person came up to them and asked for a cigarette and Geoffrey said sure and then she heard a crack. It was Geoffrey’s skull.”

Misty Gomez added that the attacker stood over Bernardi striking him in the head repeatedly, Adams said.

Arlene Loza, one of the first Clovis police officers to arrive at the scene, found a badly beaten Bernardi. Loza said both his eyes were swollen and purple. He had lacerations and head trauma. One of his fingernails on his left hand had been ripped off.

Loza said Misty Gomez described the same story about being attacked by a homeless person who ran off into the night.

But investigators began to find inconsistencies in her story and that of her husband.

As police closed in, Antonio Gomez left the country for Mexico where he stayed with relatives. Soon, he would be joined by Misty Gomez and the couple’s two daughters.

The daughter testified that her mother told her and her sister to pack their bags for a surprise trip to Los Angeles. The daughter thought they might be going to Universal Studios. It turned out to be a two-day bus trip to Michoacán where their stepfather was living.

After about three months, the police caught up with Misty and Antonio Gomez, who were arrested and brought back to the United States where they were charged with Bernardi’s murder.

The preliminary hearing continues Tuesday in Department 53. Emily Takao is representing Misty Gomez, and Brendan Bergh is defending Antonio Gomez.