Authorities said Jacqueline suffered “prolonged physical abuse and malnourishment” before she was killed, and her mother allegedly told police “they stopped giving Jacqueline food for about two weeks prior to her death,” the affidavit said.
Karla Garcia’s sister, Jackelyn Garcia, 28, also lived in the home “during part of this time frame” and allegedly participated in the abuse, police wrote in the reports. The Garcia sisters and Nanita all now face a slate of charges in connection to Jacqueline’s death and remain in custody.
During police interviews in the hours and days after her body was discovered Oct. 8, all three individuals “admitted to the intentional restraint, neglect, and cruelty of Jaqueline that we believe caused her death,” a Farmington, Conn., detective wrote in an affidavit.
Jacqueline was Karla Garcia’s daughter from a previous relationship. Nanita told police he and Karla Garcia had been dating for seven years, had three children together, and had moved from Farmington to New Britain, where they settled on Tremont Street in the beginning of this year.
Karla Garcia and Nanita are each facing seven felony charges, including “murder with special circumstances” and conspiracy, according to court records.
Jackelyn Garcia is facing three felony charges of intentional cruelty against a child, unlawful restraint, and risk of injury to a child, according to court records.
Court records showed no pleas have been entered by any of the three defendants, each of whom are due back in court Nov. 14 in Torrington, Conn. No attorney information was listed.
Karla Garcia and Nanita both denied responsibility for Jacqueline’s death during interviews with police, according to the affidavit.
The tip that led police to the grisly discovery came from an anonymous caller Oct. 8 who told Farmington police they believed there was a dead body on Clark Street in New Britain, according to court documents. Authorities later determined the caller had learned this from a woman who was Nanita’s current girlfriend.
The 40-gallon tote was taken to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where investigators noted a “powdery white substance” in the bag that they believe was used in an effort to mask the smell.
Nanita told police that Karla Garcia instructed him to take a tote bin that was outside her New Britain apartment and hide it in a nearby cemetery, but he couldn’t find a spot to leave it and drove to Clark Street, where he left the bin in the back yard of a home, according to the affidavit.
During Karla Garcia’s interview with police, just hours after Jacqueline’s remains were found, she initially said her daughter was okay and was visiting a cousin on Dwight Street in New Britain, according to the report.
The detective then told her that police had already spoken with Nanita about the tote bin. Garcia initially denied knowing anything about it but later said Nanita was lying and that he killed her daughter, but she was afraid to tell police because she feared Nanita, according to the affidavit.
She claimed that in October 2024 Jacqueline had pushed her down a flight of stairs in their Farmington home when Garcia was pregnant. She said Nanita then attacked Jacqueline and threw her downstairs into the basement, according to the affidavit.
“She said she did not know what happened afterward, but that Nanita told her he had put Jacqueline in a bag” and the body remained in the basement, the affidavit said.
When they moved to New Britain, Garcia said Nanita transported Jacqueline’s body in his car, the report said.
Police noted in the affidavit that the autopsy found “no obvious signs of recent trauma but noted there were signs of malnourishment,” concluding Garcia’s statements “are not consistent” with the medical examiner’s findings.
Police also asked Garcia about a photo of Jacqueline lying on the ground on top of pee pads and restrained in zip ties, according to the affidavit. Investigators also pressed Garcia about Jacqueline appearing to be malnourished.
Garcia allegedly admitted to placing her in zip ties on two occasions and that she and Nanita withheld food from Jacqueline for two weeks prior to her death, the report said.
Police said her mother later admitted that she and Nanita would “mistreat Jacqueline together because Jacqueline was ‘bad, she didn’t listen, she didn’t respect them.'” She said her sister, Jackelyn Garcia, also abused Jacqueline and took the photo of Jacqueline in restraints.
Jacqueline’s father, Victor Torres, told police that his daughter was in his mother’s custody for eight or nine years after her birth. Karla Garcia eventually gained full custody of Jacqueline and her younger sister in 2023, he said.
Torres told police that Garcia made it difficult for him to see his children, according to the report.
When Garcia, Nanita, and the children moved to New Britain, Torres said Garcia would not give him the address, according to the affidavit.
After his repeated attempts to see them fell through, Torres said he asked the state Division of Children and Families to conduct a wellness check.
“He stated that he had since become aware the DCF had done welfare checks on Jacqueline but that a person posing as Jacqueline was a younger sister of one of Garcia’s friends,” police wrote in the affidavit.
In the aftermath of the discovery of Jacqueline’s remains, the Division of Children and families released a timeline detailing their involvement with the family.
DCF officials said they last interacted with Jacqueline in September 2022, noting that Jacqueline and her siblings were enrolled in school and were “determined to be safe at the time and were visible to the community.”
DCF officials said the department’s last interaction with the family came in January 2025, “following allegations concerning Jacqueline’s younger sibling.”
“While it’s now reported that Jacqueline died months earlier, Ms. Garcia stated at the time of our investigation that Jacqueline was being homeschooled and staying temporarily out-of-state with a relative,” DCF officials said.
