Suspect in Sierra Hernandez’s murder took victim’s car to casino and paid bill with victim’s card: detective

Annie Mapp
·2 min read

BARTOW, Fla (WFLA) — A Polk County Judge ordered 44-year-old Daphne Fernandez to stay in jail until trial for the murder of 20-year-old Sierra Hernandez.

Fernandez faces four charges in the young woman’s death:

  • Accessory After the Fact to a Capital Felony

  • Kidnapping (Bodily Harm or Terrorize)

  • Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder

  • Abuse of Dead Human Body

The State Attorney’s Office called several witnesses during the suspect’s pretrial detention hearing Wednesday afternoon, including the suspect’s son, who says he witnessed his mother harming the victim at their home on Avenue T in Winter Haven.

“She walked in and beat the girl up, I heard her screaming, and then I left,” said Tremont Haslem, Daphne’s son.

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Haslem also testified that he saw zip ties on a bed inside the home.

Affidavits state Sierra drove to Daphne’s home on Jan. 9 to meet up with a guy she was talking to online.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Detective Steven Knapp believes the victim never left that home alive. He served as a witness in the pretrial detention hearing.

He says their agency collected evidence that shows Daphne Fernandez and another suspect named Enrique Martinez took the victim’s car to the Hard Rock Casino on Jan. 9.

Surveillance footage provided by the casino allegedly shows the suspects on casino property in the victim’s car.

Knapp testified that while searching the victim’s cellphone, they discovered a nearly 20-minute call to TECO’s Customer Service line on Jan. 10.

Detectives retrieved the recorded call from TECO and learned Daphne Fernandez used the victim’s phone to call the power company to restore her electricity.

Woman faces kidnapping, accessory charges in death of Sierra Hernandez

According to Knapp, Fernandez used the victim’s bank card information to pay the bill.

Polk County Crime Scene Investigator Teresa Kistler was called to the home in the 3800 block of Avenue T on Jan. 19.

Kistler says she documented finding Sierra’s vehicle registration at the home and other items belonging to the victim.

Documentation of Daphne’s backyard led them to a burn pile, where Kistler says they found what a medical examiner confirmed were human remains.

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