A judge is pondering whether there is enough evidence to pursue a murder charge against a man charged in the death of 11-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres.
Jonatan Nanita, 30, appeared over consecutive days this week in Superior Court in Torrington where prosecutors laid out the evidence they have to support claims that there is sufficient probable cause to believe that he played a role in the killing.
When the state rested its case Thursday in the probable cause proceedings, Nanita’s attorney, Michael Brown of Brown and Patterson, LLP. in Wethersfield, did not call any witnesses.
Judge Robert D’Andrea, who is overseeing the proceedings, continued the case until Feb. 13 without making a ruling.
In Connecticut, defendants facing possible life imprisonment are entitled to a probable cause hearing within 60 days of their arrest to determine if there’s enough evidence for prosecutors to pursue the charge. They can waive the hearing altogether or the 60-day time limit.
Over two days of testimony, prosecutors called nearly two dozen witnesses to support their case against Nanita, including a woman who claimed that she pretended to be Jacqueline during a video call with a state Department of Children and Families social worker after she was already dead, a former neighbor of the family and police investigators who worked on the case.
Jacqueline’s remains were found in an advanced state of decomposition in a storage tote left outside a boarded up, abandoned home on Clark Street in New Britain in October. According to the arrest warrant affidavits in the case, police believe Nanita and Jacqueline’s mother, 29-year-old Karla Garcia, kept the girl’s remains in the basement of their Farmington condo after she died in September 2024.
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Garcia and Nanita, who were dating at the time and share three children together, have been accused of bringing the remains with them when they relocated to New Britain in March 2025, police wrote in the warrants. They each face murder and other charges in Jacqueline’s death.
Investigators believe Jacqueline suffered prolonged abuse and malnourishment leading up to her death. According to the warrant affidavits, Garcia allegedly admitted to police that she stopped feeding the girl in the two weeks before she died.
Garcia’s sister, Jackelyn Garcia, who lived with the family at one point, told investigators that Jacqueline would regularly be restrained in zip ties in the corner of the room for so long that she would urinate and defecate on herself, the warrant affidavits said. Jackelyn Garcia has been charged in connection with the abuse allegations but not directly in Jacqueline’s death.
Jacqueline’s remains weighed only 27 pounds when they were found. An autopsy showed that she had a single blueberry in her stomach at the time of her death as well as amphetamines — a stimulant drug — and an antihistamine in her system. Her death was ruled a homicide after a medical examiner found that she died of fatal child abuse with starvation.
Police have accused Nanita of dumping the tote containing Jacqueline’s remains. During the hearings this week, police investigators involved in the case testified that authorities found Nanita’s palm print on the storage bin.
Investigators also testified that Nanita in one interview told police he came home and found blood on the walls and never saw Jacqueline again. In another interview, investigators testified, he said he came home and found that Jacqueline had turned purple. He told police he unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate and never reported the death, according to testimony.
A 21-year-old woman also testified and said she unknowingly helped Karla Garcia dupe DCF into believing Jacqueline was still alive months after she died by posing as the girl during a video call. According to testimony, Karla Garcia was in the home at the time and had given the woman information about the family in case the social worker asked any questions.
The woman testified that she was asked by her aunt, who is related to Karla Garcia, to pretend to be Jacqueline. According to her testimony, the woman was told Karla Garcia was worried about losing her children if DCF couldn’t conduct the call. She said she had no idea Jacqueline was dead at the time and only found out later through news reports.
Once she learned of the death, the woman testified, she spoke to Karla Garcia who allegedly told her that Nanita had killed Jacqueline and threatened to kill Karla Garcia and her other children.
A neighbor who lived next to the family in Farmington also took the stand and testified that she had never seen Jacqueline the entire time Karla Garcia and Nanita lived near her. She told the court she was unaware that the girl existed until she saw news reports about her death.
Nanita remains held on bonds totaling more than $5 million.
Karla and Jackelyn Garcia also remain in custody while their cases are pending.