Man arrested in death of NJ kindergarten teacher was caught at Miami motel, officials say
UPDATE: Cesar Santana was charged with murder, hindering and failing to dispose of human remains in a manner prescribed by law in Luz Hernandez’s death, prosecutors announced on Feb. 22.
The original story continues below:
Three days after a missing New Jersey kindergarten teacher was found dead in a shallow grave, U.S. marshals tracked down and arrested a man at a Miami motel, officials say.
A second suspect is still on the loose.
Cesar Santana, 36, of Jersey City, is facing a charge of desecrating and concealing human remains in connection with the death of 33-year-old Luz Hernandez, according to New Jersey Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez. More charges could come soon.
Another man, Leiner Miranda Lopez, 26, is facing the same charge and authorities are searching for him, according to the release.
Santana was arrested after midnight on Feb. 10 after Hernandez’s body was found in northern New Jersey days before, a news release said. An autopsy revealed Hernandez died from blunt force trauma to her head and compressions to her neck, and the medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, according to officials.
Authorities found Santana staying at the Sinbad Motel in Miami, Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Caitlin Mota confirmed to McClatchy News on Feb. 10.
Santana is Hernandez’s estranged husband and shares children with her, according to ABC News.
Hernandez was found killed in Kearny at 4:53 p.m. on Feb. 7, one day after she was reported missing by her family, McClatchy News previously reported.
Just two days before, Santana and Miranda Lopez were traveling in an unregistered car and were pulled over in Kearny on Feb. 5, prosecutors said. The car was impounded and evidence related to Hernandez’s death was found during a search on Feb. 7, after Hernandez’s body was found.
Initially, before the discovery of the teacher’s body, police officers conducted a welfare check over her disappearance in Jersey City and found a crime scene, according to officials. Then, they found her body in the shallow grave about 3 miles away.
That day, Santana was considered a person of interest, prosecutors said.
Concern over Hernandez’s whereabouts emerged on Feb. 6 when she never arrived for work at BelovED Community Charter School in Jersey City, where she taught kindergarten, the school’s founder Bret Schundler told McClatchy News.
It was surprising to school staff when Hernandez didn’t call in advance about her absence, according to Schundler, who described Hernandez as a “very conscientious person” and “beloved” staff member. As a result, the school contacted her family and the family told police she was missing, he said.
“A lot of people care about Luz greatly,” Schundler said, adding that the news of her death rattled the community.
She has three children, including two who attend the charter school, which was closed down on Feb. 8 over her death, according to Schundler.
Hernandez started working at the school as a teaching assistant for the 2017-2018 school year before she became a kindergarten teacher in 2021, Schundler said. He described her as an “exceptional” teacher.
Authorities are urging anyone who may know the whereabouts of Miranda Lopez to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345.
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Man arrested in death of NJ kindergarten teacher was caught at Miami motel, officials say."
.jpg)