Suspect in deadly Seminole carjacking was paid to ‘deliver’ South Florida woman, investigators say
Jordanish Torres-Garcia, one of the prime suspects in the carjacking and killing of 31-year-old Katherine Guerrero De Aguasvivas, told investigators he was paid to deliver her after she came to Winter Springs, according to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors.
Torres-Garcia faces a charge of carjacking resulting in death along with Kevin Ocasio Justiniano in the April 11 killing of Guerrero De Aguasvivas of Homestead.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office detectives believe the men, both 28, were in the green Acura sedan captured on video following her to an intersection on East Lake Drive and Tuskawilla Road. From there a masked man believed to be Torres-Garcia, who investigators said bought the car on Facebook Marketplace, held her at gunpoint before hopping in the backseat of her SUV.
The complaint, filed Wednesday, indicates Torres-Garcia not only admitted he was the masked gunman but was told by an unidentified caller of Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ whereabouts in the minutes before the carjacking. The gun he used to threaten her, which investigators said was an AR-15, was given to him by an unnamed “subject” in Casselberry about 30 minutes before the fateful encounter, according to the document. Torres-Garcia was paid $1,500 to kidnap and “deliver her to another individual” whose name was not undisclosed.
While Ocasio Justiniano was not mentioned in the complaint, Seminole Sheriff Dennis Lemma said cellphone records point to him and Torres-Garcia being in the area around the time the carjacking took place. Hours later, Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ vehicle, a white Dodge Durango, was discovered on fire in Osceola County with 10mm bullet casings found at the scene.
Both suspects were arrested on federal warrants, with Ocasio Justiniano expected to be extradited from Puerto Rico after his arrested on unrelated drug trafficking and weapons charges. According to court filings in that case, Ocasio Justiniano was identified as a drug-dealing member of a gang referred to as “the 6’s.” He was being investigated by Orlando Police Department detectives, who took him in after finding drugs and a handgun altered to become fully automatic inside his car.
In that case, Ocasio Justiniano faces charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession of a machine gun in furtherance of drug trafficking, records show.
Lemma, who has been updating reporters on the investigation into Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ death, said Tuesday the carjacking was likely over drugs and money. Her brother, named in court records as Luis Abreu, told investigators she drove to Central Florida to deliver “money and other stuff,” Lemma said. The last person to speak with her was Giovany Crespo Hernandez, who was arrested on seemingly unrelated drug charges and as of yet is not been accused of involvement in the carjacking.
It’s unclear whether Crespo Hernandez knows or is associates with Torres-Garcia and Ocasio Justiniano. However, Lemma said during Tuesday’s press conference, “This entire group is absolutely connected.”
“Clearly there’s a drug-and-money nexus here,” he said of Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ death during the press conference. “That’s probably enough motive for people who are engaged in these types of behaviors to stay in business.”
That may include killing a tow truck driver in Orange County, who Lemma noted had towed Torres-Garcia’s Acura in the days before he was gunned down in the Taft neighborhood the day before Guerrero De Aguasvivas was killed. At the scene, investigators found dozens of 10mm rounds similar to those found where the woman’s burning SUV was found. Witnesses also said they saw the Acura leaving the scene.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating that shooting, has not said if Torres-Garcia or any associates were involved but confirmed the car’s connection to their investigation.
As for Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ relatives — Abreu and her husband, Miguel Aguasvivas — Lemma has expressed multiple times his skepticism of how forthcoming they’ve been with what they know.
On Tuesday, he confirmed Aguasvivas “is no longer cooperating with us” while Abreu has been caught in “multiple lies” in interviews with detectives. The pair are connected to charges against Orange County Deputy Francisco Estrella, who provided confidential information about a Seminole County detective as well as recorded conversations. That criminal case is ongoing.
Still, Abreu and Aguasvivas have not been accused of wrongdoing.
