WARRANT: Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia died Sept. 2024; mother admits to starving her before death

FARMINGTON, CT (WFSB) - Jacqueline Torres-Garcia “Mimi” died on September 19th, 2024. That’s what Jacqueline’s mother, Karla Garcia, told her sister, Jackelyn Garcia, according to Farmington Police search warrants obtained by the I-Team.

Those same warrants show Karla Garcia told police, she and her boyfriend, Jonatan Nanita, stopped feeding Jacqueline two weeks prior to her death. Garcia also admits to previously restraining Jacqueline in zip ties, as punishment for when she was acting bad.

Karla Garcia and Jonatan Nanita are both charged with murder in Jacqueline’s death. Jacqueline’s aunt, Jackelyn Garcia, is charged with intentional cruelty.

In the search warrants, Farmington Police say they first began their investigation, after receiving an anonymous tip, that “Jonatan Nanita had picked up a tote in the woods of a cemetery and put it in the back of his car.” The tipster says Nanita drove to an abandoned home at 80 Clark Street, and left the tote there. The tipster believed there was a body inside.

Police did find a body, described as remains, later identified as Jacqueline Torres- Garcia. An autopsy by the Medical Examiner, found “there were no signs of recent trauma or injuries to her body that would have contributed to her death, though the body appeared to be malnourished.”

Police say they quickly suspected Karla Garcia and Jonatan Nanita, and in interviews on October 8th and 9th, Karla admitted to starving Jacqueline before her death, and tying her up. Karla Garcia told police, “Jonatan Nanita brought Jacqueline’s body downstairs but she wasn’t sure what to do with it. She stated the odor from the decaying body was so strong, they had to leave their residence in Farmington and stay with friends or at hotels.”

Karla said she knew Nanita took the body and moved it upon their move to New Britain from Farmington. Karla told police, most of the punishments directed toward Jacqueline were under the direction of Nanita. Jacqueline Torres-Garcia was the child of Karla Garcia and Victor Torres, along with a younger sister. Garcia had three children with Nanita.

Karla Garcia told police she was about to go on a podcast prior to her arrest, where she was going to share the story of what happened to Jacqueline

Karla also told police her sister, Jackelyn Garcia, sent her a photograph of Jacqueline when she was lying on the floor on pee pads, restrained in zip ties. Jackelyn admitted to taking the photo, according to police, sometime in the summer of 2024.

In a warrant obtained for Jackelyn Garcia’s cell phone, Jackelyn Garcia told police she lived with the family in their Farmington home on and off between June and August 2024, before moving to New Haven.

Jackelyn Garcia told police she shared a room with Jacqueline and her young sister, and “observed patterns of continued abuse and neglect of Jacqueline, to include her being confined to a corner of a room, being restrained in zip ties, and not being fed.”

She says Jacqueline attempted to run away from home twice, and both times, “she was found by a family member, and was punished by being restrained in zip ties.”

Jackelyn Garcia told police when she left the residence in mid-August, “she knew Jacqueline was going to die.”

Jackelyn Garcia served 8 and a half months in prison from December 2024 to August 2025, after being convicted and charged with abusing her then 11 month old child. Jackelyn says when she was released from jail, she moved in with Garcia and Nanita and that Garcia was her sponsor.

She told police she found the body and Karla Garcia told her Jacqueline had died on September 19th, 2024.

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