The estranged husband of Luz Hernandez, a Jersey City kindergarten teacher who was found dead and buried in a shallow grave, has been charged with her death.
Cesar Santana was arrested in a Miami motel earlier this month and initially charged with desecrating or concealing human remains. He was extradited Tuesday back to New Jersey, where he will also face a count of first-degree murder in connection with Hernadez’s slaying, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office revealed.
Hernandez, a 33-year-old mother and teacher at BelovED Charter School in Jersey City, was first reported missing on Feb. 6, after she failed to show up to work. Authorities performed a wellness check the following day and uncovered evidence prompting them to believe a crime had occurred.
According to an affidavit obtained by NBC News, a search of her residence turned up a pickax, a bloody shovel, a bloodstained rope, and clear plastic sheeting with blood and soil on it.
Hernandez’s remains were unearthed on Feb. 7 in an industrial park in Kearney, just a few minutes away from where she lived and worked. She died of blunt force trauma to the head and compressions to the neck, according to the autopsy.
Santana is the father of Hernandez’s three children. Santana’s friend, 26-year-old Leiner Miranda Lopez of Jersey City, has also been charged with desecrating/concealing human remains. He remains at large.
Prosecutors said they are currently investigating the slaying as a domestic violence incident.