Winter Haven woman indicted in the gruesome death of 20-year-old Sierra Hernandez
Months after the gruesome death of Sierra Hernandez, a Winter Haven woman has been indicted on first-degree murder charges.
Daphne Ann Fernandez, 45, was indicted Monday by a grand jury on 12 felony charges, including first-degree murder, kidnapping with bodily harm or terrorizing, and abuse of a dead human body related to the death of 20-year-old Sierra Hernandez.
The grand jury's indictment, filed with Polk County courts on May 1, reads, "...Daphne Ann Fernandez, or her accomplice, caused the death of Sierra Hernandez... ."
Fernandez was arrested Jan. 15 by Polk County deputies after she was found driving Hernandez's car on Memorial Boulevard/U.S. 92 in Lakeland. She was initially charged with knowingly driving while her license was suspended.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office had issued a warrant for Enrique Martinez, 26, who was wanted on first-degree charges in the death of Edil Fernando Rodriguez at an Eloise homeless encampment in November 2023. Martinez was, at that time, named as the prime suspect.
Fernandez is charged with one felony count of being an accessory after the fact in that crime for offering Martinez shelter at her home on Avenue T Northwest in Winter Haven.
Sierra's disappearance and final days
In a previous report in The Ledger, Hernandez's mother, Rita Thomas, said Hernandez was last seen by family members on Jan. 4, and she was reported as missing on Jan. 14 to the Sheriff's Office.
Hernandez went to the house to meet with Blake Sterling, 21, a man she had been talking to on Facebook. Sterling asked Fernandez whether Hernandez could stay for the night, according to a police affidavit.
According to an unredacted affidavit released by the Sheriff's Office earlier this year, Sterling told deputies he left the house the next day to handle family business. When he returned, Sterling told deputies he saw Fernandez and Martinez standing in Fernandez's son's room.
"Blake [Sterling] indicated that he also observed Sierra [Hernandez] with her hands and wrists bound in front of her, and believed she was being held against her will," reads the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, Sterling told deputies he recognized Martinez as being wanted on murder charges. When Sterling shouted at Fernandez, asking what they were doing, he told deputies Martinez charged at him so he fled the house. Sterling claims he spent several days hiding in the woods, afraid of Martinez.
The affidavit says deputies interviewed April Merrill, Hernandez's sister-in-law. Merrill told deputies she had met with a friend, Brittany Young, at Hungry Howie's on Havendale Boulevard. Young allegedly told Merrill that a friend, Keith Mason, had walked into the Avenue T home to see a girl tied up with three males, according to the affidavit.
"Keith [Mason] asked what they planned to do with her, and they told him they were going to kill her and burn her body in the back yard," the report reads.
Deputies interviewed Young, who said she and Mason were at a house on 32nd Street Northwest in Winter Haven when she overheard two other men talking. Young told deputies that one of the said "they had her tied up and torturing her" at the Avenue T residence, according to the affidavit.
Young told deputies she thought Hernandez was already dead, as she had observed a large fire at the property a few days earlier.
Several arrests were made
On Jan. 18, several of Hernandez's family members were arrested at the Winter Haven home on charges of trespassing while conducting a search of the property. Polk deputies executing a search warrant found a pile of burned items, including human remains, on the property the next day.
Martinez led police on a hunt, ducking into a wooded area north of Eagle Lake. He was arrested and formally charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rodriguez. He remains in custody at the South County Jail, though no charges have been been filed against him in Hernandez's death.
Court records show the Winter Haven house did not belong to Daphne Fernandez. Eviction paperwork filed with Polk County Clerk of Court states Fernandez and others did not own the house, were not tenants and did not have a rental lease. A default judgment entered by the courts ordered their eviction post arrest.
Fernandez is being held in the Central County Jail without bail. Her next court date is scheduled for May 17.
Previous reporting in The Ledger was used in this report. Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Woman indicted on charges of killing and burning Sierra Hernandez
