1 Arrested, 1 Sought After Jersey City Kindergarten Teacher Found In Shallow Grave

JERSEY CITY, NJ — One man has been arrested and a warrant issued for another after a Jersey City kindergarten teacher was found buried in a shallow Kearny grave this week, officials announced.

Cesar Santana, 36, and Leiner Miranda Lopez, 26, both of Jersey City, were each charged with one count of desecrating/concealing human remains in connection with the death of Luz Hernandez, 33, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said.

U.S. marshals arrested Santana in a motel on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami shortly after midnight Friday, officials said.

A spokesperson for the United States Marshal Service said he was arrested at the Sinbad Hotel.

Santana is being detained at the Miami-Dade Turner Guilford Night Detention Center as a fugitive from justice pending extradition to New Jersey, prosecutors said.

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.

Hernandez, 33, had been found in a shallow grave in an industrial area Central Avenue and Third Street in Kearny Tuesday, after officials at BelovED Charter School reported her missing on Monday.

Prosecutors said that Santana and Lopez were involved in a traffic stop on Sunday in Kearny, and police took possession of their car. However, the men left the area.

After Jersey City police were notified on Monday that Luz Hernandez was missing, Kearny officials made them aware of the traffic stop. Police searched the car, then searched the area.

The Prosecutor's Office confirmed the death was a homicide and said Hernandez died from "blunt force trauma to the head and compressions to the neck."

'She Was A Devoted Mother'

News outlets including ABC have reported that the arrested man is the father of Hernandez' three children.

Hernandez's sister Jenny Taveras said she was a victim of domestic violence in a GoFundMe set up for her three children.

"She was a devoted mother and daughter who loved working with children," Taveres wrote. "She was a passionate educator [who] worked tirelessly."

"I've never met you but I’ve lost sleep thinking about your children," wrote one donor. "I hope they’re safe and support is in place to help them during this difficult time. You didn’t deserve this, your children, your kindergarten class and loved ones either. RIP beautiful."

Hernandez was born in the Dominican Republic and was about to receive her master's degree from St. Peter's College in Jersey City, Taveres said.

Taveres noted Hernandez's two oldest children attend the Jersey City charter school where their mom worked with kindergarteners.

The Jersey City school teacher leaves behind three children, two sisters, two brothers, her mother and her father.

The death is the second in three weeks of a Jersey City teacher, as well as the fourth homicide of a Hudson County woman in three weeks. All four of those cases were said to be linked to domestic violence.

Read about Jersey City's history of domestic violence here.

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit is investigating with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department and the Kearny Police Department.