Four men have now been formally charged in the fatal armed carjacking and abduction of a Homestead woman back in April that was caught on camera in central Florida.
Dereck Alexis Rodriguez Bonilla and Giovany Crespo Hernandez join Jordanish Torres-Garcia and Kevin Ocasio Justiano in facing federal charges in the death of Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, 31, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
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Aguasvivas was driving north from Homestead and stopped at an intersection in Winter Springs in Seminole County back on April 11 when shocking witness video showed her being held at gunpoint and abducted.
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Hours after the carjacking, Aguasvivas' body was found inside her burned-out vehicle at a deserted construction area in another Orlando-area county. She had been shot multiple times.
The four suspects have been accused of carjacking resulting in death, kidnapping, using a firearm during a violent crime and other related charges.
Torres-Garcia and Justiniano, both 28, were arrested in April on federal charges in Aguasvivas' killing.
Crespo Hernandez was previously arrested on federal drug-trafficking charges, but had not been formally charged as a suspect in Aguasvivas’ death.
He is also charged with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking in a separate case, along with his girlfriend, Monicasabel Romero Soto.
Rodriguez Bonilla was previously unnamed in the investigation.
Aguasvivas had left Homestead earlier in the day and driven north in a white Dodge Durango until she reached Seminole County.
As she was driving, a green Acura rammed into her back bumper. She called her husband and told him someone was following her and had hit her.
The husband told her to not stop, but neither of them called 911, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said.
Torres-Garcia told investigators he was the masked man with the weapon who abducted Aguasvivas, and said he'd been paid to kidnap her and deliver her to someone, an arrest affidavit said.
Torres-Garcia said the weapon was unloaded and had been given to him a half hour before the carjacking, and said he was paid $1,500 to deliver her to an individual who wasn't identified in the affidavit.
Lemma said investigators believe Justiniano was the driver of the green Acura used in the abduction.
According to federal court documents filed Thursday, Aguasvivas had been traveling to Crespo Hernandez's home in Casselberry to retrieve $170,000 in illegal drug trafficking proceeds.
Crespo Hernandez later called Torres-Garcia to organize the carjacking in order to get that money back, and Torres-Garcia then allegedly called Justiniano and Rodriguez Bonilla to get them involved, the court records said.
A surveillance photo included in the court documents showed Torres-Garcia and Justiniano buying lighter fluid at a gas station the day on the incident.
The documents said Justiniano met up with Bonilla to get the 10mm firearm that was used to kill Aguasvivas. The same gun was also believed to have been used in the murder of a tow truck driver the night before Aguasvivas' killing, the documents said.
The documents said Aguasvivas was shot multiple times at the construction area, and lighter fluid was poured on her body and her vehicle before she was set on fire.
Photos in the court records showed the vehicle on fire and completely burned out after it was extinguished.
Lemma said back in April that investigators believed they knew the motivations for Aguasvivas' killing.
"This whole thing, I suspect from the beginning, everyone who's watched this has known it's about drugs and money," Lemma said. "We'll find out more specific details as this investigation goes, but clearly there's a drug and money nexus here."
