Amid key revelations, two men linked to Homestead woman’s fatal carjacking enter plea
Two of the four men accused of coordinating and carrying out the fatal carjacking of a Homestead woman in Central Florida pleaded not guilty in an Orlando federal courtroom Wednesday.
It’s the second time that Jordanish Torres-Garcia, 28, and Giovany Joel Crespo Hernandez, 27, entered pleas in connection to the deadly ambush of 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas. They, along with Kevin Omar Ocasio Justiniano and Dereck Alexis Rodriguez Bonilla, were indicted last week on charges that include carjacking, kidnapping and the use of a firearm during a violent crime.
All four men could now face the death penalty, though prosecutors have yet to determine if they will be seeking the punishment. The Department of Justice has only sought the death penalty once during the term of President Joe Biden, the first president in office to openly oppose capital punishment. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors announced that they planned to pursue the death penalty in the hate crime case of the gunman convicted of killing 10 Black shoppers at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in May 2022.
READ MORE: How did the deadly carjacking of a Homestead woman unfold? Prosecutors lay out theory
Prosecutor Dana Hill, in a filing urging a judge to keep the men locked up as they await trial, argued they pose “a grave danger to the community” and that “their incentive to flee could not be stronger” as the possibility of life or death sentences loom.
Torres-Garcia, shackled and in a red jumpsuit, was led into the courtroom first on Wednesday. Before the proceeding began, his attorney Todd Doss quietly reviewed a packet containing his indictment with the help of a Spanish interpreter.
When Magistrate Judge Embry Kidd asked Torres-Garcia if he understood that he faced the possibility of the death penalty, Torres-Garcia responded in Spanish with a simple “yes.” Torres-Garcia, the first to be charged during the probe, previously pleaded not guilty to carjacking, kidnapping and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime resulting in death.
Crespo Hernandez was led in — also cuffed — after Torres-Garcia was escorted out of the courtroom. He leaned forward, nodding along as he listened to the charges being read. Crespo Hernandez had previously pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges after agents uncovered three bricks of cocaine inside a lamp in a package sent from Puerto Rico to an Osceola County home.
Coordinated plan to swindle $170K?
The two arraignments came after court records filed last week shed light on why Guerrero De Aguasvivas made the hours-long drive from Homestead to Central Florida on the day of her killing.
Prosecutors say the unsuspecting Homestead woman trekked the state to meet Crespo Hernandez at his Seminole County home and collect $170,000 — money associated with drug trafficking activities. It’s still unknown how Guerrero De Aguasvivas was connected to the criminal underworld.
READ MORE: Homestead woman’s carjacking death unveils tangled web of drugs and murder beyond Florida
As the woman drove north, Crespo Hernandez recruited Torres-Garcia and plotted to fleece her of the same money he was turning over, records allege. They then coordinated with Ocasio Justiniano, 28, and Rodriguez Bonilla, 21.
Torres-Garcia, who admitted to being the masked carjacker, ambushed Guerrero De Aguasvivas while she was stopped at a red light in Winter Springs, according to prosecutors. Cellphone footage of the incident shows a masked man hopping out of a green 2002 Acura as he held a semiautomatic weapon.
READ MORE: Unveiling a drug nexus? A look at the probe into Homestead woman’s deadly carjacking
Moments later, Torres-Garcia brandished the weapon as he carjacked the white Dodge Durango driven by Guerrero De Aguasvivas, court records say. He ordered the woman to follow the green Acura to an isolated construction site in Kissimmee.
Investigators believe Ocasio Justiniano was behind the wheel of the Acura.
While Torres-Garcia held Guerrero De Aguasvivas at gunpoint, Ocasio Justiniano met up with Rodriguez Bonilla to obtain a 10mm firearm, according to court documents. When he returned to the desolate area, the pair then doused Guerrero De Aguasvivas — and the Durango — in lighter fluid, shooting up the SUV before setting it ablaze.
Her remains, found in the passenger’s side of the torched car, were identified by testing DNA from blood found inside the car, records show.
Prosecutors have also linked Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ slaying to the shooting death of tow truck driver Juan Luis Cintron Garcia a day prior to the carjacking. Cintron Garcia had towed the green Acura in March.
The 39-year-old man was shot to death outside his home with the same weapon used to kill Guerrero De Aguasvivas.
Bonilla, who hadn’t been previously associated with the investigation, pleaded not guilty to the charges a day after the indictment. Ocasio Justiniano has yet to face a judge, and it’s unclear where he’s being detained. He was previously in federal custody in Puerto Rico.
Also arrested in connection to Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ case include:
▪ Monicsabel Romero Soto, 28, the live-in girlfriend of Crespo Hernandez. Romero Soto was surveilled by federal agents after three bricks of cocaine were found in a lamp in a package sent from Puerto Rico to a St. Cloud home in Osceola County.
▪ Francisco Estrella Chicon, an Orange County deputy accused of illegally accessing the personal and professional profile information of the lead Seminole County detective on the case and sharing that information with Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ husband.
