Arrest warrants provide new details in New Britain girl’s death

NEW BRITAIN, CT (WFSB) - Arrest warrants for the three suspects charged in connection with the death of an 11-year-old girl were released on Tuesday.

The warrants detailed what led police to charge 29-year-old Karla Garcia, 30-year-old Jonatan Nanita, and 28-year-old Jackelyn Garcia.

The remains of Jacqueline Torres-Garcia were discovered in a plastic tote at an abandoned home on Clark Street in New Britain on Oct. 8, 2025. Officials estimated that she had been dead for about a year.

Karla Garcia’s warrant can be read here:

Jonatan Nanita’s warrant can be read here:

Jackelyn Garcia’s arrest warrant can be read here:

The warrants explained how people came forward to make anonymous tips about the body’s location. A couple of the informants provided a photograph of the vehicle used to drop off the tote in New Britain.

One of those informants told police they were with Nanita at the end of September. The informant said Nanita picked up the tote from a cemetery and brought it to the Clark Street address.

The informant noted that the tote smelled bad.

Also, the warrants detailed the police interviews of Karla Garcia, Nanita, and Jackelyn Garcia.

Police noted that Karla Garcia, Jacqueline’s mother, and Nanita, Karla Garcia’s boyfriend, told different stories about what happened to Jacqueline.

Jacqueline’s mother first denied knowing what happened to her daughter, then blamed her boyfriend at the time, until she finally confessed.

Karla Garcia first told New Britain detectives that in Oct. 2024, when she was 6 months pregnant with one of Nanita’s children, she argued with Jacqueline about being pregnant again.

She denied any knowledge of the tote.

Nanita, meanwhile, told detectives that Karla Garcia asked him to dispose of the tote.

He said he drove to Karla Garcia’s apartment, picked up the tote, and hid it in a cemetery, per her orders. However, he couldn’t find a good spot, so he drove the tote to Clark Street.

When asked about Jacqueline, he told them that he went to Karla Garcia’s home in Farmington after recently being released from prison.

Nanita said he did not see Jacqueline after that day.

In a later interview, Nanita provided some other details.

However, he maintained that he did not know where the bin came from, and that he only helped Garcia move it.

Nanita suggested that Karla Garcia may have killed the girl.

Karla Garcia, however, continued to suggest that Nanita was the killer.

She denied knowing what happened to Jacqueline, but said Nanita would know.

Karla Garcia claimed that her fall with Jacqueline left her bedridden for two weeks.

She never saw Jacqueline after that, she claimed. She said Nanita told her not to ask.

Karla Garcia later told detectives that Nanita threw Jacqueline down a second flight of stairs after stomping on her head.

He told her that had been “dealing with it” after that.

Karla Garcia said she didn’t report it because she was afraid of Nanita.

The warrant also detailed Oct. 9, 2025 autopsy results on Jacqueline’s remains.

The Office of the Chief Medical examination noted that the girl had been severely malnourished.

There were no obvious signs of injury to her body that would have contributed to her death.

The cause of death needed further study; however, a doctor noted that in her opinion, severe and prolonged malnourishment was the cause of death.

“I cannot put that in my head. I couldn’t leave a person without eating for god knows how many days,” said Julio Sanchez, New Britain. “How can you be so evil? Where all that evil came from? That’s what I keep asking myself.”

Karla Garcia, in another interview, later admitted to police that she and Nanita stopped giving Jacqueline food about 2 weeks before her death.

She said the girl was doing things she was not supposed to, like striking other children, going into people’s cars, and having five boyfriends. Garcia told police they starved her because “Jacqueline was bad… she didn’t listen, she didn’t respect them.”

She said that Nanita and Jackelyn Garcia all treated her that way.

Jackelyn told police Karla and Nanita would keep Jacqueline in a corner as she defecated and urinated on herself. She also admitted to taking and sharing a photograph of her niece zip tied on a urination pad.

Karla Garcia said that the girl died in her bed, but couldn’t pinpoint the exact day.

Nanita transported the body to the basement.

Karla Garcia said that the smell became so bad that they had to stay in hotels and with other friends.

“both admitted to concealing Jacqueline and lying to friends, family and the authorities about her location and death,” according to the arrest warrant. “They admitted to the intentional restraint, neglect and cruelty of Jacqueline that we believe caused her death.”

Police reports from Farmington Police Department show officers responded to the Wellington address multiple times from September 28, 2024, to February 2, 2025, for noise complaints. One caller reported hearing a woman saying she was going to “break their neck” but was unsure who she was referring to. Most times, police could not make contact with whoever was in the apartment, or their were no signs of a domestic incident. Police released bodycam video of one of the encounters.

Karla Garcia was charged with murder, child cruelty, and other charges.

Nanita was charged with murder and tampering with evidence.

Jackelyn Garcia was charged with risk of injury to a child and child cruelty.

Channel 3 continues to comb through the warrants. The three suspects will be back in court November 14th.

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