Authorities announced Wednesday that the estranged husband of a Jersey City kindergarten teacher who was beaten, strangled, and buried in a shallow grave has been charged with her murder.
After US Marshals detained Cesar Santana, 36, of Jersey City, at a Miami motel two weeks ago, prosecutors initially accused him of desecrating or concealing human remains.
However, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, Santana killed 33-year-old mother-of-three Luz Hernandez, whose body was discovered by detectives on February 7 near Central Avenue and Third Street in Kearny.
According to a press release, prosecutors charged Santana on Wednesday with first-degree murder as well as obstruction, failing to properly dispose of human remains, and tampering with evidence.
According to the release, the prosecutor’s office is looking into the murder “as an act of domestic violence.” According to the prosecutor’s release of the autopsy results, Hernandez died as a result of neck compressions and blunt force trauma to the head.
Leiner Miranda Lopez, 26, of Jersey City, who is allegedly Santana’s accomplice, has been charged with desecrating or hiding human remains. But he continues to flee.
Hernandez’s ex-husband Santana is also said to be the biological father of Hernandez’s children.
When Hernandez failed to arrive for work on February 6, her employer, BelovED Charter School, contacted the Jersey City Police and reported her missing.
The following day, when they went to check on Hernandez’s welfare, police discovered a crime scene at his Van Horne Street residence. Santana was named as a person of interest when the county prosecutor was contacted.
Investigators discovered that the day before Hernandez vanished, Santana and Lopez had been pulled over by police in Kearny for a traffic infraction on Central Avenue. Police seized the unregistered vehicle, which later produced additional evidence of the crime, according to the prosecution.
Later, homicide detectives located Hernandez’s shallow grave near Central Avenue and Third Street.
Hernandez was remembered as a wonderful mother, a kind, beautiful person who loved children and her job by her family and coworkers.
Hernandez was described as a Dominican Republic native on a GoFundMe page. When she was five years old, she reportedly moved to the US.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Santana was processed early on Wednesday after being extradited to New Jersey late on Tuesday.
In anticipation of his initial court appearance, he was being detained at the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
