Police: Fugitive arrested in connection to 2023 murder of Jersey City schoolteacher

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A second man was arrested on Wednesday in connection to the 2023 murder of a beloved Jersey City schoolteacher, according to police. The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit arrested 28-year-old Leiner Miranda Lopez, who was wanted for the death of Luz Hernandez . Miranda Lopez, who faced numerous charges relating to the incident, was taken into custody at Newark Liberty International Airport and is being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending his first court appearance. Colombian authorities arrested Miranda Lopez on June 14, 2023. On Sept. 11, 2024, Miranda Lopez was subsequently extradited from Bogota, Colombia, to the United States on a provisional arrest request. Miranda Lopez and co-defendant Cesar Santana, 38, of Jersey City, were both indicted by a grand jury on May 15, 2023. Hernandez was the mother of Santana’s three children. Hernandez' body was recovered in a shallow grave in the area of Central Avenue and Third Street in Kearny in Feb. 2023. The matter is being investigated as an act of domestic violence. "