JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Leiner Miranda Lopez, the second suspect in the 2023 killing of Luz Hernandez, a New Jersey kindergarten teacher and mother of three, has been extradited from Colombia and is now in custody in the U.S., officials said Wednesday.
Miranda Lopez, 28, was arrested by Colombian authorities in June 2023 under a U.S. provisional arrest request. He arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport on September 11, 2024, where he was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. He is being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility and faces several charges, including murder, hindering prosecution, tampering with evidence, and desecrating human remains, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez.
Lopez and co-defendant Cesar Santana, 38, both of Jersey City, were indicted by a grand jury in May 2023. Santana was arrested shortly after Hernandez’s body was discovered in a shallow grave in Kearny on February 7, 2023. Hernandez, 33, was reported missing a day earlier, and her body was later found near Central Avenue and Third Street. The medical examiner determined she died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck compressions, with the death ruled a homicide.
Authorities have described the case as an act of domestic violence, but have not provided further details regarding the relationship between Hernandez and the suspects. Both Lopez and Santana are awaiting trial.
The investigation remains ongoing, and officials have not yet announced a date for Lopez’s initial court appearance.
