NBC6 reporter Sophia Hernandez takes a deeper look at the details and clues in the deadly carjacking case involving a Homestead woman.
The FBI and the Seminole County Sheriff's Office will provide an update Monday on the fatal armed carjacking and abduction of a Homestead woman in Central Florida, after releasing new details this week on the shocking incident that sounds like the plot of a TV drama.
Some questions still surround the killing of 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas and the two men who are now facing charges in the incident.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
Who is Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas?
Aguasvivas lived in Homestead and worked as a hairdresser at a salon in Florida City. Detectives said she had no prior criminal history.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
Aguasvivas was driving and stopped at an intersection in Winter Springs in Seminole County back on April 11 when shocking video showed her held at gunpoint and abducted.
A couple hours later, a body believed to be hers was discovered inside a burning vehicle in Osceola County.
Local
Police are still awaiting dental records or DNA confirmation that the body found is Aguasvivas.
Why was she heading north from her home in Homestead?
Aguasvivas had left Homestead that morning and was driving a white Dodge Durango when the armed abduction happened.
Authorities said Aguasvivas' husband, Miguel, initially told detectives she was traveling to see family. Investigators said they found two family members in the area but neither were expecting a visit from her.
Detectives believe Aguasvivas was going north to deliver money "and other stuff" for a friend, Giovanny Hernandez.
Who is Giovanny Hernandez and how is he connected to Aguasvivas?
Hernandez, 27, is believed to be the last person who spoke to Aguasvivas, according to her brother, Luis.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Hernandez is a known member of a drug trafficking organization and a person of interest in a series of home invasions and homicide investigations.
He was also the target of a Homeland Security probe in 2020 where agents seized more than $300,000.
Authorities searched a home in the Orlando suburb of Casselberry that Hernandez shares with his girlfriend, 27-year-old Monicsabel Romero Soto, where they found fentanyl, more than $13,000 in cash, two Glock firearms, cellphones, and expensive jewelry.
Inside their Toyota, authorities found a "trap space" used by traffickers to hide drugs, officials said.
Hernandez turned himself in Monday to authorities in Seminole County on a warrant for fentanyl trafficking and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.
Soto was arrested in Osceola County after trying to pick up a lamp she said she bought off Facebook Marketplace that was filled with more than three kilos of cocaine, authorities said.
Neither has been charged in the Aguasvivas case, though authorities said Hernandez was a person of interest.
Who are the two men federally charged in the case?
Jordanish "Jordan" Torres-Gracia and Kevin "Kevo" Ocasio Justiniano, both 28, are facing federal charges of carjacking resulting in death in Aguasvivas' killing.
Authorities said Justiniano was connected to a red Toyota Corolla that was seen at the same apartment complex as the green Acura sedan involved in the abduction of Aguasvivas.
It's believed Justiniano picked up the suspects in the Acura and at the time of the carjacking was the driver.
According to an arrest affidavit filed this week, Torres-Garcia admitted that he was the man who approached Aguasvivas with the gun and got into her vehicle, and told investigators that he was paid to kidnap her and deliver her to someone.
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.
Authorities said a Facebook photo showed Torres-Garcia wearing the same outfit as the suspect, and his phone number is associated with the buyer of the Acura.
Detectives were able to make their arrests with the help of cellphone records, which showed they were both at the scene of the carjacking at the time it happened, officials said.
Torres-Garcia was questioned last week following his arrest on a federal warrant for violation of probation from a weapons charge in Puerto Rico.
Justiniano was taken into custody earlier this week in Puerto Rico on unrelated drug- trafficking and weapons charges, authorities said.
Why was a deputy arrested during the investigation?
Another arrest made during the investigation into Aguasvivas' killing was Orange County Deputy Francisco Estrella.
Authorities said Aguasvivas' husband reached out to a family friend, Estrella's wife, and that Estrella then used a fake name to call the Seminole County Sheriff's Office to get information on the case and the lead detective.
Estrella allegedly recorded the conversation and also accessed an internal information system for info, then sent it to Aguasvivas' husband.
Some unanswered questions
The bizarre series of events still leaves some questions that have yet to be answered.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said this week that investigators believe they know 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."
Lemma said at the moment, Aguasvivas' husband and brother are not persons of interest in the case, but while they had been cooperating for the majority of the case they stopped doing so.
Investigators want to know why the husband was trying to find more info on the case and lead detective.
They also want to know why he told Aguasvivas over the phone to keep driving when her car was rammed by the kidnappers' car, and why Aguasvivas and her husband didn't call 911.
Also unanswered is what was the "other stuff" Aguasvivas was driving with? And what was the relationship between Aguasvivas and Hernandez, and why was that the last person she called?
And who is the other person or persons believed to be in the suspects' car during the abduction?
"There's a lot of evidence that really hasn't even come back on this yet and again, still relatively early stages of this but a lot of good police work, taking an incredibly complicated and confusing situation with a lot of moving parts and putting it into play," Lemma said.
