New details have emerged from court documents, shedding light on a long-standing family dispute over the custody of a 12-year-old Connecticut girl, Jacqueline Torres, whose tragic death was discovered on an abandoned property last week.

In a case that has gripped the community, Jacqueline’s mother, Karla Garcia, and her boyfriend, Jonatan Nanita, now face charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Additionally, Garcia’s sister, Jackelyn Garcia, has been accused of tampering with evidence. Further compounding the gravity of the situation, Karla Garcia is also charged with cruelty to children, according to a report by CrimeOnline.

Investigators suspect that Jacqueline’s life was tragically cut short last fall. The custody battle, which has now come into sharp focus, was highlighted in court documents accessed by WVIT. These documents reveal that Jacqueline had spent the majority of her life under the care of her paternal grandmother, Patricia Delgado. However, a significant shift in 2022 saw Karla Garcia being granted custody.

In a poignant statement included in the court records, Delgado expressed her anguish, stating, “DCF (the state Department of Children and Families) took her away from me. I felt they forced me to hand over the girl and I went to court and they told me that the grandmother no longer had any rights to take or even see the child.” Delgado further alleged that Garcia was obstructing the family’s attempts to maintain contact with Jacqueline.

“DCF (the state Department of Children and Families) took her away from me. I felt they forced me to hand over the girl and I went to court and they told me that the grandmother no longer had any rights to take or even see the child,” Delgado said in the court documents, adding that Garcia was preventing the family from seeing or speaking with the child.

The following year, Jacqueline’s father, Victor Torres, took Garcia to court, claiming that she wasn’t honoring a custody arrangement they had.

“I want to see my children weekend like agreed when given joint custody. Or any day for that matter,” Torres wrote.

Following that court filing, Garcia filed for full custody, which was granted in June 2024. Police say Jacqueline was murdered just a few months later.

Police found the body last week when they were called to investigate a report of suspicious behavior. They found a large container along the fence line in the backyard of the abandoned home. Inside was Torres’s body in an advanced stage of decomposition.

Police said during a news conference that they were told of someone dropping things off — including the storage bin where the remains were found.

The Garcias and Nanita are due in court on November 14.