Bricks of cocaine found in lamp offer clue into a Homestead woman’s deadly carjacking
Bricks of cocaine tucked away in a lamp fixture are the latest twist in the investigation into the carjacking and murder of a Homestead woman in Central Florida.
The revelation in the bizarre murder case emerged April 16 after Homeland Security Investigations agents found a suspicious parcel being mailed from Puerto Rico, according to a federal criminal complaint. A K9 alerted them of the package, where 3.28 kilograms of cocaine were sealed in the lamp with caulk and nails.
A police officer dropped the parcel off at a St. Cloud address in Central Florida, near Kissimmee, as agents staked out the area. Monicsabel Romero Soto was spotted repeatedly driving around the home in a white Acura SUV, presumably to ensure no law enforcement was present, the complaint alleges.
At one point, Romero Soto got out of the SUV and walked over to the package, according to the complaint. The 27-year-old told agents she came to “pick up her lamp” that she ordered on Facebook for $300.27.
READ MORE: Arrests made in investigation into Homestead woman’s deadly carjacking
Romero Soto is now facing federal charges — and one of several people arrested in connection to the murder of 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, who was carjacked around 6 p.m. April 11 after traveling from Homestead to Central Florida. The others arrested include:
▪ Jordanish Torres-Garcia, a 28-year-old investigators consider a person of interest. Torres-Garcia owns the green 2002 Acura that is connected to her killing and to the murder of a tow truck driver in Orange County the day before. He was arrested on an existing federal weapons possession warrant.
▪ Francisco Estrella Chicon, an Orange County deputy accused of illegally accessing the personal and professional profile information belonging to the lead Seminole County detective on the case and sharing that information with Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ husband, Miguel Angel Aguasvivas. Estrella Chicon’s wife is a childhood friend of Aguasvivas.
A Miami connection?
Investigators are still searching for 27-year-old Giovany Joel Crespo Hernandez — Romero Soto’s live-in boyfriend. He appears to be one of the last people Guerrero De Aguasvivas spoke to on the phone as she was driving on I-4 through the downtown Orlando area, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said.
Crespo Hernandez, according to the complaint, is a known member of a drug trafficking organization and a person of interest in “a series of home invasions and homicide investigations.” The filing also states that he was the target of a Homeland Security probe in the Miami area in 2020 that led to agents seizing more than $300,000.
When deputies searched the couple’s Casselberry home in Central Florida, they located fentanyl, more than $13,000 in cash, two Glock firearms, multiple cellphones and expensive jewelry, according to the complaint. A Toyota in the driveway had a “trap” space within the car, a ploy used by traffickers to hide drugs.
Crespo Hernandez faces federal fentanyl trafficking charges, according to Lemma. It’s unclear whether he was arrested or charged in connection to the 2020 investigation in South Florida.
Why was she in Central Florida?
The sprawling probe into the Homestead woman’s death spans several counties across the state. It includes federal agents and detectives from multiple sheriff’s offices.
On April 11, a masked gunman was caught on video getting out of the green Acura, pointing a gun at Guerrero De Aguasvivas through the driver’s-side window and getting into her white Dodge Durango while she was stopped at a red light at an intersection near Winter Springs, a suburban community in Seminole County.
The Durango was found later that day in a construction site in Osceola County, torched, with Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ body burned inside. Osceola is the county south of Orlando’s Orange County; Kissimmee is the county seat of Osceola.
READ MORE: Body found burned believed to be a Homestead woman who got carjacked in Central Florida
Witnesses said they heard multiple gunshots before the grisly scene was discovered and spent bullet casings were found on the ground.
The green Acura is connected to the shooting death of Juan Luis Cintron Garcia, 39, in Orange County the day before Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ murder. Cintron Garcia, a tow truck driver, had hauled the Acura away from an Orange County apartment parking lot on March 19.
Detectives said they found the same spent ammunition at both crime scenes — 10-millimeter bullets, not a commonly used bullet, said Lemma, the Seminole County sheriff.
The reason for Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ travels to Central Florida remains unclear. Her husband initially told investigators that she was visiting relatives. However, 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.
Abreu uncovered the information after doing his own digging, the sheriff said. He contacted Crespo Hernandez through Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ iCloud account, screenshot his image and sent it to detectives.
Neither Aguasvivas nor Abreu, Lemma added, are currently considered suspects.
“He and her brother, Luis, are cooperating,” Lemma told reporters Friday. “But I am incredibly skeptical of their cooperation.”
