Federal prosecutors have officially put the ultimate punishment on the table in one of Central Florida’s most closely watched cases, filing notice Friday that they will seek the death penalty against Jordanish Torres-Garcia, one of four men accused in the April 11, 2024, Winter Springs carjacking that left 31-year-old Katherine Aguasvivas dead. The move shifts the long-running probe into the slow, high-stakes machinery of a federal capital case and sharply raises the pressure on everyone involved.
According to WKMG/ClickOrlando, a court document labeled a “Notice of Intention to Seek the Death Penalty” states that federal prosecutors believe Torres-Garcia intentionally killed Aguasvivas. The station also reports that prosecutors filed separate notices saying they will not seek the death penalty against two co-defendants, Giovany Crespo Hernandez and Dereck Rodriguez Bonilla.
The carjacking itself was captured on video by a witness at the intersection of East Lake Drive and Tuskawilla Road, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said in an April 2024 release. Local reporting and court records state that Aguasvivas’ burned SUV, with a body inside, was later found in Osceola County, and investigators allege she had driven to Central Florida to pick up roughly $170,000 tied to drug proceeds. Per Spectrum News 13, the witness video and subsequent evidence helped push the investigation into the federal arena…