Case Profiles #93
Jacqueline Torres-Garcia
11-year-old Jacqueline Torres-Garcia, lovingly nicknamed “Mimi,” was last seen in the summer of 2024. This was around the time her mother, 29-year-old Karla Garcia, withdrew her from Pulaski Middle School in New Britain, Connecticut, informing the school she would be homeschooling her. Her father, Victor Torres, had last seen her in June of 2024 for her 5th grade graduation. Victor, who was not with Karla but still coparented with her, and Karla were both granted joint custody of Jacqueline with the Department of Children and Families. DCF had been involved with the family on other occasions. In October of 2024, Jacqueline’s mother Karla claimed that she and Jacqueline had gotten into an argument over Karla’s current pregnancy, claiming Jacqueline pushed her down the stairs of their home they had recently moved into in Farmington, Connecticut. In retaliation for this, Karla’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Jonatan Nanita, proceeded to kick Jacqueline in the head before dragging her out of Karla’ sight. This was the last time Karla claims she saw her daughter. Karla said she was bedridden for two weeks following the fall as she was pregnant, and when she recovered she seemed to not ask too many questions about her daughter’s whereabouts.
Four days after Christmas on December 29th, 2024, Farmington police responded to the home for a noise complaint, which Karla said was her getting frustrated with cleaning as she was in her third trimester of pregnancy. Karla also mentioned to police that Jacqueline was missing, but did not file a report with them. In January of 2025, DCF was investigating allegations with Jacqueline’s younger sibling when Karla told them that Jacqueline was staying with a relative out of state and that she was being homeschooled. DCF did a video call with someone who Karla claimed was Jacqueline before closing the case two months later. Jacqueline’s father Victor continued to ask about her whereabouts but was told different information about where Jacqueline was each time.
On October 8th, 2025, police received an anonymous tip and arrived on scene at an abandoned house on Clark Street in New Britain. Behind the house, police found a 40-gallon plastic container. Inside were the remains of a child inside of a plastic bag that was wrapped in a comforter and sheets in a laundry basket. Per the autopsy that was performed the next day, the child was identified as Jacqueline Torres-Garcia. Despite being almost 12-years-old at the time of her death, she weighed just 27 pounds. She was described as having “marked emaciation,” and a “near-absence” of fat on her body and a single blueberry was found in her stomach. She also had amphetamines in her system despite this type of medication not being prescribed to her. Her cause of death was later determined by the medical examiner as homicide by deadly child abuse with starvation. Jacqueline likely died in September of 2024.
Karla admitted that she and Jonatan mistreated Jacqueline, telling police she was “bad” and that she and Jonatan would tie her up with zip ties and withhold food. The last time Karla said she fed Jacqueline was two weeks before her death. After she died, which Karla said was on September 19th, 2024, Karla and the rest of the family stayed with friends or in hotels due to the odor in the home from the decomposing body that was kept in the basement. The body was brought to the abandoned house in New Britain and dumped there by Jonatan several months later. On October 12th, 2025, Karla Garcia, Jonatan Nanita, and Karla’s sister Jackelyn Garcia were arrested and charged with multiple felonies including child abuse, unlawful restraint and murder. Legal proceedings are ongoing, as is a potential lawsuit being filed by Jacqueline’s father Victor against DCF for their negligence in investigating the abuse.
Tyron Walton
On September 29th, 2003, at 2:00 a.m., officers at the Hartford, Connecticut Police Department were alerted to several gunshots fired around Main and Mathers Streets. Upon arrival, police were puzzled to find nobody around. They did, however, find several spent bullet casings around the intersection. Just a bit further south on Main Street, near the intersection of Albany Avenue, other officers discovered a crashed car. The vehicle had clearly been shot at, and inside, there was no one. At the same time as officers were surveying both scenes, a call came in reporting a man arriving at nearby St. Francis Hospital who had suffered from apparent gunshot wounds. The man, 27-year-old Tyron Walton, was pronounced dead of his injuries relating to a gunshot wound at roughly 2:15 a.m.
According to friends, that night Tyron and some of his pals were going to head to the Pyramid Club on North Main Street. A little before 2:00 a.m., the club was packed so Tyron and his friends decided to leave and head to Papa’s Pizza. While they were driving there, the car, being driven by Tyron, stopped at a red light when another car that had been driving behind them pulled up. At least six shots were fired from the car behind them before it sped past and disappeared. Witnesses could only describe the car as possibly being white. Tyron was struck by one of the gunshots and luckily a friend was able to grab the steering wheel and drive them a few blocks away to safety, where he was then transported to another friend’s car and brought to the hospital. Unfortunately, there have been no updates in the case and no witnesses have come forward with any information. If you or anyone you know has any information about the murder of Tyron Walton, please call the Hartford Police Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS.
Image sources:
ctinsider.com - “11-year-old found in New Britain likely died weeks after being pulled from school, officials say”
portal.ct.gov - “Connecticut Cold Case 4th Edition Cards”