Boyfriend Charged With Murder Of 27-Year-Old East Haven Mom: PD

EAST HAVEN, CT — It’s been 164 days since the body of young East Haven mom Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca was found buried in a shallow grave behind garbage bins at Lomonaco Restaurant in Branford.

The 27-year-old had been missing for weeks when investigators discovered her remains.

On Sunday, Jonnathan X. Jara-Aucapina, 27, the father of her 8-year-old daughter and longtime boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder, East Haven Police Capt. Joseph M. Murgo said. Held on a $2 million bond, Jara-Aucapina will be arraigned in New Haven Superior Court Monday.

Jara-Aucapina, who worked at the restaurant for more than seven years, has long been the focus of the investigation, though police never confirmed him as a suspect.

Once the missing mother's body was found by investigators, it would take months before the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in October ruled her death "homicidal asphyxia."

She was strangled to death by Jara-Aucapina, police charge.

East Haven Police Department Chief Edward R. Lennon said the case took as long as it did to investigate before it was able to get a warrant signed by the state's attorney because of the mountain of evidence and statements investigators needed to process.

"It was a very complex case," Lennon said. He noted that investigators did not release any information about Jara-Aucapina during the course of the six-month investigation so as not to tip him off that he was suspected fearing he might flee: "Our duty was to Lizzbeth."

"It was frustrating," Lennon said, to not be able to share details of the case with the public, and family who have been begging for answers for months. Lennon said investigators were concerned that some details would have "compromised evidence and certain details were only known by Jonnathan and may have alerted him."

Lennon said that Jara-Aucapina was always the only suspect.

Aleman-Popoca's father Albino Aleman, his voice cracking as he held back tears, said his daughter's killing "destroyed my family."

In Spanish, he said that he and his family have been seeking "truth and justice" and thanked East Haven police for their months-long efforts to see Jara-Aucapina arrested.

She'd been missing for days before Jara-Aucapina reported her disappearance to police

Aleman-Popoca was last seen June 30 but was not reported missing until July 3. In July, police said that Jara-Aucapina claimed he was phoned by his daughter the morning of July 1 to say she'd awoken and her mother was not there, but said her "personal belongs" were. Two days later, he told police she was missing. The couple were not legally married, but he is the father to her daughter.

Aleman-Popoca's sister Yaneth told Patch last summer that her sister, "Would never leave her baby. She would never leave her. She's her priority. She would have called me. We have good communication. She wouldn't leave us, leave her family without calling to say, 'Come take care of the baby.' She's not the kind of person to randomly go missing. No."

The day after her body was found, more dumped than buried, in a very shallow 'grave' behind a cluster of large garbage bins and a dumpster, family and friends gathered in her father's New Haven home. In his garage-turned-chapel, with an altar adorned with flowers and photographs of the slain young mom, dozens gathered to pray.

Yaneth told Patch then that, all the family wanted was for there to be justice for their daughter and sister.

"I want justice for her," her sister said. "I want justice, and I want it now. They killed her, and they killed her in a way I can't describe. I want justice."

Aleman-Popoca was planning to separate from her longtime boyfriend and, her sister told Patch, she'd been looking at an apartment in New Haven in the days before she went missing. Her sister, and close family friend Giovanni Diaz, said that in the three days before she was officially reported as a missing person to East Haven police, Jara-Aucapina "told us many lies."

They said he created at least two versions of what had happened to her; one was that she'd run off "and other lies about her," and another had him claiming she'd left to go back to Mexico but could not cross the border with a missing persons report.

"All these lies he told us," Yaneth said. "We knew they couldn't be true. She loved her daughter. She'd never leave her. Never."

Lennon said Sunday that Jara-Aucapina did in fact, "concoct stories" while knowing all along he'd killed her and had dumped her body behind the restaurant.

In a statement emailed to Patch, Murgo said Jara-Aucapina "concocted a story that Lizzbeth had ran off, when he knew that she was already dead. He then used this story to lie to her family, her loved ones, and then eventually law enforcement when her family forced him to report her missing."

Murgo said that after the initial missing person’s report, Jara-Aucapina "continued to lie to investigators, and also tried to conceal where he had buried her."

Murgo and Lennon praised the two lead investigators on the case that never gave up. Officer Anthony Fiorillo has been on the case "every day" since she was first was reported missing and Sgt. Jeff Vailette was involved in the case every step of the long way to a warrant for Jara-Aucapina's arrest.

Mayor Joseph A. Carfora. praised both officers as well as the entire police department, the state's attorney, the Connecticut State Police Major Crime Squad and the FBI, all involved in the investigation.

Lizzbeth was a good mother, sister, daughter and friend

By all accounts, Aleman-Popoca was a young working mother trying to make a better life for her daughter. Better than the life she'd lived.

“Lizzbeth's life wasn't easy,” her family said. “At 7 she had to take care of her 4-year-old sister. She became a mother to her. Her sister was all he had. She came to America at the age of 15 and started working immediately. Her life wasn't easy at first. At 19, she gave birth to her daughter Astrid. Her life took a different turn, and she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Her daughter became her everything. She knew all her hard work had a meaning. Her mission was to give her daughter everything she didn't have.”

Read her obituary here.

And she had a “special talent.

“She loved to draw and was pretty good at it. Weeks before her death, she began drawing again after a long time. She wanted to make designs for phones, cars, shirts and other accessories. She was motivated and ready to start a new chapter in life with her little daughter.”

Tackling domestic violence against women of color

At the press event announcing the arrest, police and town officials wore purple, a show of solidarity with domestic violence victims, in particular, women of color. And the mayor called on town staff to wear purple on Monday.

There had been for months calls for police to share details of the investigation and to name a suspect as some feared the lack of information signaled police were not committed to denouncing domestic violence. But for months, the family said, they felt in the dark despite investigators, police and town officials telling Patch emphatically that the family were regularly updated.
In the fall, when a march was organized to call attention to the domestic violence women suffer, and worse, as in Aleman-Popoca’s case, her killing.

Numerous events were held by her family and organizers committed to bringing awareness to the issue of domestic violence, especially of women of color, from vigils to caravans and demonstrations outside the restaurant where her body was found and at East Haven Town Hall.

The day before one such planned event late last summer, Murgo told Patch that investigators worked "tirelessly" on the case and, "very much support the good and important work" of vigil organizers and the family.

"Combating domestic violence is one of our main priorities as an agency," he said at the time. "We applaud their work." Sunday, Murgo expanded on that statement.

"Domestic violence has no place in our community and we strive as an agency to combat spousal abuse and all forms of domestic violence at all costs. Far too often, victims find themselves in a cycle of domestic violence in which they feel there is no way out. We want victims of domestic violence to know that there is hope. There are people who care. We care. You are not alone in your fight to end the abuse," he said. "We hope this arrest is the beginning of the healing process and justice Lizzbeth and her family deserve."

And at the press conference, Lennon said the police department is committed to bringing justice to victims of domestic violence.

"Lizzbeth was a vibrant mother, daughter and sister who leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter," Lennon said. "This daughter because of one act of domestic violence will spend the rest of her life without her mother. I sincerely hope today's arrest will begin the path for justice that Lizzbeth and her family ultimately deserve after this senseless act of domestic violence perpetrated against her."

Shortly after the Sunday morning arrest of Jara-Aucapina, Carfora sent this statement to Patch:

“I am so very pleased that our department has made an arrest in Lizzbeth’s murder. She was a special young woman, and mother who was beloved by her family. Their lives will never be the same because of an act of horrific domestic violence. It is my sincere hope that this first step towards justice provides them some form of comfort. Domestic violence, and those who commit these heinous acts must be dealt with in the most severe manner provided by the law. Investigations like this one need to be meticulously handled so that law enforcement gets not only an arrest, but also creates the building blocks to get a conviction. I would like to commend everyone involved. Our community stands with this family as this matter continues. I am asking that members of our department and our town staff wear some form of purple tomorrow to honor Lizzbeth and her family. Domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment will not be tolerated.”

A GoFundMe was created for Aleman-Popoca's daughter many months ago. Donate here.

GoFundMe is a Patch partner.