BARTOW, Fla (WFLA) — A Polk County Judge ordered 44-year-old Daphne Fernandez to stay in jail until trial for the murder of 20-year-old Sierra Hernandez.
Fernandez faces four charges in the young woman’s death:
- Accessory After the Fact to a Capital Felony
- Kidnapping (Bodily Harm or Terrorize)
- Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder
- Abuse of Dead Human Body
The State Attorney’s Office called several witnesses during the suspect’s pretrial detention hearing Wednesday afternoon, including the suspect’s son, who says he witnessed his mother harming the victim at their home on Avenue T in Winter Haven.
“She walked in and beat the girl up, I heard her screaming, and then I left,” said Tremont Haslem, Daphne’s son.
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Haslem also testified that he saw zip ties on a bed inside the home.
Affidavits state Sierra drove to Daphne’s home on Jan. 9 to meet up with a guy she was talking to online.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Detective Steven Knapp believes the victim never left that home alive. He served as a witness in the pretrial detention hearing.