Judge: No bond in murder-for-hire plot
A judge in Osceola County denied release on bond Thursday for one of three suspects in a murder-for-hire plot, after the state argued she was at risk of fleeing the area.
“She has absolutely no ties to Central Florida,” Assistant State Attorney Christopher Smith said of Glorianmarie Quiñones Montes, 22. “We would not be able to respond in time, she’ll be gone.”
Quiñones Montes, who is charged with the first-degree murder and kidnapping of Janice Zengotita-Torres, shook her head and sobbed as she hunched over the defense’s table when Osceola County homicide Detective Roger Huaman described the murder.
She’s also charged and robbery.
All three suspects traveled from Puerto Rico in late December and confessed to their crime, but Smith argued that Quiñones Montes did not have enough ties to the area to believe she would stay.
A family friend who is a pastor at a Kissimmee church had volunteered to house her, but Smith said that her whole family was still back on the island.
“It’s clearly not that close of a relationship,” he said. “And given her job as a pastor, she can’t inspect the home 24-7.” with carjacking
Quiñones Montes found out she was pregnant Jan. 25 while she was in jail, and she expects to give birth by Sept. 16.
Among the arguments her lawyers asked the judge to consider was that she should be allowed out of jail in order to breastfeed her infant for a year after giving birth.
Defense attorney Migdalia Perez said they were not surprised by the court’s decision to deny bond.
“Right now Puerto Rico’s in a bad situation, I know that they had difficulties contacting law enforcement,” she said, adding that if Quiñones Montes were to flee, authorities in Central Florida would have no confidence in law enforcement on the island to take her into custody.
“The court is going to take that into consideration. We’re not surprised. As a matter of procedure we’re going to go through the process regardless,” Perez said.
Zengotita-Torres, 42, was was found Jan. 8 by Spectrum cable workers after she had been reported missing by her husband.
Huaman said duct tape was bound so tightly around her head that it had made her face misshapen.
Part of the bag wrapped around her head had gone into her esophagus, which ultimately suffocated her.
According to an arrest affidavit, Ishnar Marie Lopez, 35, hired Alexis Ramos, 22, to kill a woman who she believed was meddling with “a man that she loved.”
Ramos and his girlfriend, Quiñones Montes, tracked the woman to a Ross Dress for Less store in Kissimmee.
They followed Zengotita-Torres to her apartment and abducted her, though she was not the intended target.
As Quiñones Montes drove the victim’s car, Huaman said, the suspects checked her wallet and realized she was not the right person, but they went through with the killing regardless.