Prime suspects named, 3rd person arrested in deadly Seminole carjacking

Two men have been connected to the April 11 carjacking and killing of Katherine Guerrero De Aguasvivas and are expected to face federal charges while her relatives have stopped cooperating with investigators, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma announced Tuesday.

Jordanish Torres-Garcia, 28, is now a prime suspect in the 31-year-old South Florida woman’s murder along with Kevin Ocasio Justiniano, 28. Lemma said both men were in the green Acura sedan seen following Guerrero De Aguasvivas moments before she was kidnapped at gunpoint in Winter Springs.

On Friday, Lemma said Torres-Garcia was only deemed a person of interest, after he was identified as the owner of the Acura. He was also wearing clothes similar to that of the masked gunman seen on video, including the black ski mask and black long-sleeved shirt bearing a similar design.

But at a press conference on Tuesday, Lemma said cellphone records place Torres-Garcia and Ocasio Justiniano at the scene of the carjacking and both likely were in the green Acura.

Ocasio Justiniano was arrested by federal authorities in Puerto Rico on unrelated drug and weapons charges, but he is to be extradited to Central Florida. Torres-Garcia was arrested on a federal warrant last week in Orange County.

“Clearly there’s a drug and money nexus here,” Lemma said. “That’s probably enough motive for people who are engaged in these types of behaviors to stay in business.”

The pair are expected to face federal charges of carjacking resulting in a death, but federal prosecutors have not yet officially made that determination. In the meantime, Lemma said, the investigation continues.

“There may be others in that car, we just simply don’t know,” Lemma said. “But we now have records that put the two at that location at the time.”

Tuesday’s update comes as another person of interest, 27-year-old Giovany Crespo Hernandez, was taken into custody Monday after detectives revealed a possible link to Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ death, though he has not been formally accused of being involved.

Court filings, which do not mention Guerrero De Aguasvivas, show he was arrested after Seminole County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at his home in Casselberry on Wednesday, where they found marijuana and a powder that field-tested positive for fentanyl.

Crespo Hernandez turned himself in at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility , charged with trafficking fentanyl and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He a ppeared in court Tuesday afternoon and is being held without bond, jail records show.

The 27-year-old is believed the last person to speak with Guerrero De Aguasvivas after her brother, Luis Abreu, video-called him as part of what Lemma said was his “own, independent investigation” by looking through her cellphone data stored in the iCloud. Abreu then screenshot Crespo Hernandez’s face, which was later handed over to detectives who identified him using facial-recognition software.

Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office or Crimeline at 800-423-8477.

While Abreu and Guerrero De Aguasvivas’ husband, Miguel Aguasvivas, were initially said to be cooperating with the investigation, Lemma said that has since changed.

“The husband is no longer cooperating with us, and the brother has been crossed up in multiple lies with our detectives,” said Lemma, who from the beginning expressed skepticism with how forthcoming the two have been with what they know.

That includes their alleged involvement with Orange County Deputy Francisco Estrella, charged with several crimes after investigators said he shared confidential information on a detective working the case. According to an affidavit, Estrella also called the detective, identifying himself using an alias to get information about the investigation, the recordings of which were given to Abreu and Aguasvivas.

Estrella has since been suspended without pay by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office while the criminal case proceeds. Lemma said Estrella’s alleged actions did not compromise the case.

Still, the sheriff said Tuesday, Abreu and Aguasvivas have not been accused of wrongdoing.

Video and reports released to news media indicate the Acura was following Guerrero De Aguasvivas as she drove in a white Dodge SUV and that passengers tried to flag her down. After the gunman hopped in the backseat, the woman drove off followed by the Acura. Her SUV was found in Osceola County on fire with her body inside and 10mm bullet casings at the scene.

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The Acura, which the sheriff said Torres-Garcia bought on Facebook Marketplace, was later recovered by  Orange County deputies. It was part of an investigation into the killing of a tow truck driver in the Taft neighborhood who was shot at dozens of times with the same rounds.

Investigators hope the arrests of Torres-Garcia , Ocasio Justiniano and Crespo Hernandez can fill in gaps in the timeline leading up to the kidnapping of Guerrero De Aguasvivas, who Lemma said was personally targeted. Relatives initially said she drove to Central Florida from Homestead to visit family, which he said turned out to be untrue.

Abreu has since said she was in Central Florida to deliver money “and other stuff” to Crespo Hernandez, likely a friend of hers, according to Lemma. What remains unclear is Crespo Hernandez’s ties to Torres-Garcia and Ocasio Justiniano.

“I think this entire group is absolutely connected,” Lemma said, “and from the activities, probably not the first time that they’ve been involved in criminal activity.”