JERSEY CITY, NJ – Police have announced the arrest of Cesar Santana, 36, in the murder of Jersey City kindergarten teacher Luz Hernandez, 33. Hernandez was reported missing and later found dead in a shallow grave in Kearny.
Police also issued an arrest warrant for 26-year-old Miranda Lopez, also wanted in connection to Hernandez’s death.
Santana was arrested at a motel in Miami by U.S. Marshals. He is being held in jail at the Miami-Dade Turner Guilford Night Detention Center. He is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
Miranda Lopez has not yet been apprehended and anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345. Photos of both defendants are attached.
Here’s what we know so far:
Police searching for a missing Jersey City woman in Kearny located a shallow grave in the area of Central Avenue and Third Street on Tuesday.
According to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, Jersey City police officers conducted a welfare check at the woman’s home on Van Horne Street on Tuesday. Police learned the woman could be in investigating the matter then escalated the case to the prosecutor’s office.
Later, police found the woman, identified as Luz Hernandez, 33. Hernandez, a mother of three, worked as a kindergarten teacher at Beloved Charter School in Jersey City.
She was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 5 pm. Hernandez was reported missing on Monday.
“The death is considered suspicious at this time,” the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Hernandez is the second teacher from the Jersey City School District in the past two weeks. She was reported missing by school officials after not showing up for work.
At this time, police have not made any arrests or identified any suspects.
On January 23, 3rd grade teacher Temara King was shot and killed in the Toy Factory Apartments after a domestic dispute.