Authorities in Florida were able to track down a 28-year-old man connected to an armed carjacking after they found a social media post of him in the same outfit he wore while allegedly committing the crime.
The Seminole County Sheriff’s office announced that Jordanish Torres-Garcia was arrested on Friday, April 19. It came after a days-long search to find the persons of interest linked to the incident that resulted in 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ death. The incident happened on the night of April 11, around 6 p.m., in Seminole County.
Video released by the sheriff’s office shows Torres-Garcia pointing his weapon at the driver, later identified as De Aguasvivas, before entering the backseat. Behind the truck was a green Acura that appeared to follow behind them.
Authorities said a second suspect occupied that vehicle, which had a “partially obscured license plate.” In addition, during the investigation, deputies learned that the Acura kept hitting the truck before the carjacking took place.
Witnesses notified officials about the sound of gunshots an hour later and discovered “what is believed to be the victim’s carjacked vehicle that had been set on fire.” According to WSVN, they also spotted 12 shell casings on the scene. Due to the fire, it was difficult for detectives to identify her.
“Because the body was badly burned, we will need DNA and dental records to make a positive identification,” Sheriff Dennis Lemma said in a statement. “But we strongly believe it’s her.”
After Torres-Garcia was taken in by the US Marshals Service for unrelated charges, it was exposed that he was linked to the green Acura in a carjacking stunt, per the sheriff’s office. In his Facebook profile photo, he wore the same mask and clothes as the suspect. Investigators also came across him making a vehicle transaction via Facebook Marketplace, according to WPLG.
“I’m identifying him as a person of interest because, when it comes to legal cases, that’s probably the safest thing to call him,” Lemma added, per the outlet. “But his number is matching the phone number that was given with the person who purchased the green Acura and, of course, the photograph looks to me as identical.”
Police have also connected the green Acura to the killing of a tow truck driver, Juan Luis Cintron Garcia, who shot 100 times the day before the carjacking.
While De Aguasvivas’ husband told authorities, she had driven over 300 miles from Homestead in Miami-Dade County to visit relatives, her brother, Luis Fernando Abreu, told investigators that he discovered she was in the area to “deliver money and other stuff for a friend,” Lemma said, according to the Miami Herald.
According to reports, deputies are still looking for another suspect, Giovany Joel Crespo Hernandez, who they believed was the last person to contact the victim before the incident.
Police were able to identify Hernandez after her brother Abreu logged into her iCloud account called the last person she called, took a screenshot and sent it to authorities.
Officials obtained a warrant to search the home he shares with his girlfriend, Monicsabel Romero Soto, on drug charges. “Trafficking amounts” of money, fentanyl, and a firearm were found during the search, but he was not in the house at the time.
“At the time the search warrant was being executed, Soto accepted a controlled delivery by Homeland Security Investigations containing three kilos of cocaine and was ultimately arrested in Osceola County,” officials said, “Hernandez is still outstanding and has an active warrant for Fentanyl trafficking.”
According to investigators, someone used a lamp fixture to hide 3 kilos of cocaine, and mailed the lamp from Puerto Rico to Osceola County for which Soto was picking up from another house with her baby while investigators were executing a warrant at her home.
WSVN reported that another person was detained in connection to the carjacking. Francisco Estrella, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy, is being accused of trying to illegally hamper the ongoing investigation by reaching out to the investigator spearheading the case and pretending to be a family member of the victim.
His attorney argued that he was trying to assist a family friend, De Aguasvivas’ husband, and had no involvement in the crime.
