Shovel and bloody rope found in a car linked to ex of N.J. teacher found in a shallow grave, affidavit says

Days prior to the body of a New Jersey instructor was discovered in a shallow tomb, authorities seized a vehicle connected to her previous partner that had a pickax, a shovel and a bloodstained rope inside it, according to court files launched Wednesday.

The information remained in an affidavit supporting a murder charge versus Cesar Santana, 36, in the death of Luz Hernandez, 33, a kindergarten instructor at a Jersey City charter school.

Santana was likewise charged with preventing, damaging physical proof and stopping working to get rid of human remains in a way recommended by law, the Hudson County district attorney’s workplace stated in a declaration.

He was jailed at a motel in Miami on Feb. 10 and extradited to New Jersey on Tuesday night, the district attorney’s workplace stated.

A 2nd individual, Lenier Miranda Lopez, 26, was charged with desecrating human remains, the district attorney’s workplace stated. Lopez stays at big.

According to the affidavit, Hernandez was reported missing out on by Santana– the dad of her 3 kids– and loved ones on Feb. 6.

Authorities examining her disappearance later on found that on Feb. 4, Santana was seen strolling to Hernandez’s home in Jersey City, where she was house alone, and dragging a black and yellow bin from your house an hour later on, according to the file. The affidavit is partially redacted and does not state who observed his motions.

On Feb. 5, authorities in the neighboring city of Kearney released Santana an automobile summons after he and a 2nd individual were seen filling a black and yellow bin into a Honda, the affidavit states. The automobile had actually ended registration and was seized.

Two days later on, Jersey City officers who were performing a well-being check at Hernandez’s house observed the faint odor of bleach, the affidavit states. They discovered cleaning up products and a mop, and they saw bloodstains in the bed room, according to the file.

Hernandez’s body was later on discovered in a shallow tomb in Kearney. An autopsy associated her death to blunt force injury of the head and compressions to the neck, according to the affidavit.

A search of the Honda exposed a big black and yellow bin with wheels, a pickax, a shovel, clear plastic sheeting and a rope, the affidavit states. A few of the products were bloody; authorities discovered black hairs on others. Soil was discovered on the sheeting.

Santana made his preliminary look in a Hudson County court Wednesday, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s workplace stated. It wasn’t instantly clear whether he has a legal representative who might speak on his behalf.