Third suspect identified, arrested amid deadly Seminole County carjacking investigation: sheriff

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - A third suspect was identified and arrested in connection to the deadly Winter Springs carjacking involving 31-year-old Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma announced during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.  

The sheriff also shared updates about the other people allegedly involved in the deadly carjacking, including the two persons of interest, Jordanish Torres-Garcia and Giovany Joel Crespo Hernandez, who are both currently in custody. 

Torres-Garcia is now considered a "strong suspect" and Sheriff Lemma said he's "confident" that this is the person holding the gun in the now-viral video that shows Katherine's SUV being carjacked before driving off on Tuskawilla Road. That vehicle was later found engulfed in flames in Osceola County, where a body – presumed to be hers – was found inside, officials said. 

The third person allegedly involved, Kevin Ocasio Justiniano, 28, was arrested Monday by the U.S. Marshals in Puerto Rico in charges unrelated to the carjacking case. He's facing federal charges of possession of an automatic weapon and drug trafficking, Sheriff Lemma said. He will be extradited to Central Florida to face charges in the Middle District of Florida related to the carjacking. 

Both Justiniano and Torres-Garcia will be charged federally with carjacking resulting in death, Sheriff Lemma said. 

"We think that they did it. We're gonna charge them," Sheriff Lemma said. "We don't charge people unless we think that they did it."

He was linked to the case by the red Toyota Corolla that he was seen driving in the same apartment complex where the green Acura – which was seen driving behind and bumping into Katherine's SUV on the day of the carjacking – was spotted at. Sheriff Lemma originally said this green Acura was one of three in the state, and the two others had been salvaged. 

The red Toyota Corolla came back to a relative of Justiniano, and he's been on the Seminole County Sheriff's Office's radar since that moment. Surveillance video showed the Corolla picking up the occupants of the green Acura, who appeared to be cleaning the car up and wiping it down, Sheriff Lemma said. 

Additionally, records came in that put Justiniano at the carjacking scene with Torres-Garcia, Sheriff Lemma said. Justiniano is likely the driver of the green Acura at the time of the carjacking, the sheriff added. 

Sheriff Lemma said it's also possible that other people were inside the green Acura at the time of the carjacking, but that will be determined as the investigation continues to evolve. 

This update comes hours after the arrest of Crespo Hernandez, who is in custody in Seminole County for drug possession and trafficking charges after turning himself in late Monday night. 

Sheriff Lemma said Crespo Hernandez will not be charged related to the actual carjacking, Sheriff Lemma said. It's important to note that no kidnapping charges have been filed. Only charges related to the act of carjacking are on the table as of Tuesday afternoon's press conference. 

Crespo Hernandez was named a person of interest in the case last week after detectives discovered he had spoken to Katherine via FaceTime on the day of the carjacking. Katherine's brother, Luis, who began his own investigation into the carjacking and death of his sister, pointed this out to detectives after he called Crespo Hernandez on his own accord, Sheriff Lemma said. 

Luis said Katherine, of Homestead, was in town to give "money and other stuff" to someone. At the time, the details surrounding this delivery were unclear, but Sheriff Lemma said Tuesday he believes Katherine was on her way to Crespo Hernandez's home in Casselberry. Detectives determined this using the GPS route that Katherine took from South to Central Florida. Sheriff Lemma said it's something that's not known for sure, but is his hunch. 

"Everyone who's watched (this case) knows it's about drugs and money," Sheriff Lemma said. 

Sheriff Lemma also said Luis and Katherine's husband, Miguel, are no longer cooperating with detectives. 

"To shape that they're cooperating would not be accurate. They are no longer cooperating," Sheriff Lemma said. "The husband is not cooperating at all and the brother feels like he's cooperating, but he's telling us lies." 

Sheriff Lemma added that detectives have crossed Luis up in multiple lies, including the one he reportedly shared regarding his FaceTime call with Crespo Hernandez. At first, he shared a screenshot of a FaceTime call showing Crespo Hernandez's face, but forensic evidence on his phone revealed that the photo was cropped from a full FaceTime call. 

Sheriff Lemma said he believes everyone in the case is "absolutely connected," but their direct links will be revealed in further investigation, which is still ongoing. 

U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger Handberg will be assuming a lot of these cases, Sheriff Lemma said.