Person of interest in deadly Winter Springs carjacking has criminal past dating back to teen years

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - The man investigators believe is a strong person of interest in a deadly Winter Springs carjacking nearly two weeks ago is no stranger to law enforcement. 

According to records from the U.S. District Court for the District Court of Puerto Rico, Jordanish Torres-Garcia began his criminal career as a teenager in Puerto Rico. He was convicted of aggravated burglary and spent time in a juvenile detention facility. He was also convicted of assaulting a fellow inmate. 

RELATED: 2 persons of interest identified in Seminole County carjacking, kidnapping investigation: Sheriff

In October 2015, not too long after his release, Puerto Rican police found three guns and 118 rounds of ammunition in his home during a search. A judge sentenced him to three years in prison with time served, and he was released on probation in December 2018. Records show he violated that probation the following November when the feds issued a warrant for his arrest. 

Then, while a fugitive of justice nearly four years later, Orange County deputies say, based on victim testimony, Torres-Garcia robbed someone at gunpoint outside a Dunkin' Donuts on Landstar Boulevard. The victim, however, decided not to move forward with the case.

Days later, deputies allege Torres-Garcia stalked his ex-girlfriend, who was the mother of his child, before firing a gun in her backyard and threatening to kill her and burn her house down. She, too, decided not to prosecute. 

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Prosecutors dropped the charges in both cases because the victims didn't cooperate. Bob Fisher, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, says this doesn't happen often, but each decision depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. 

"The government has the burden of proof because the defendant, no matter what that person's history may be, is presumed innocent until the government meets that burden of proving their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," he said.

Had the victims in both cases cooperated with prosecutors, Fisher believes it's possible Torres-Garcia would be behind bars. 

"If the government had been successful in meeting their burden of proof, that person, obviously under Florida's 10-20 Life legislation because a gun was used, would have been sentenced to a minimum of ten years in prison," he said.

Even though the charges were dropped in both October 2022 cases, Torres-Garcia remained in federal custody for violating probation. He was released from prison in October 2023 but then failed to report to a halfway house, which was part of the conditions of his probation.

Torres-Garcia is alleged to have a connection to the carjacking of 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas. Guerrero De Aguasvivas was carjacked at gunpoint by a masked person at an intersection in Winter Springs on Thursday, April 11, which happened to be recorded by a witness. That video showed a person stepping out of a green Acura with a gun and entering her vehicle. The woman's vehicle was later found engulfed in flames in Osceola County, where a body – presumed to be hers – was found inside, officials said.

U.S. Marshals arrested him on Friday, and he is now being held in the Seminole County jail on a probation violation warrant out of Puerto Rico while deputies investigate his alleged involvement in the deadly carjacking.