Jacqueline 'Mimi' Torres-Garcia

Jacqueline "Mimi" Torres-Garcia was an 11-year-old girl from Farmington, Connecticut, whose death became the subject of a prolonged criminal investigation after her remains were discovered more than a year after she died. She is remembered not for any public achievement but because the circumstances of her death, and how long it took for the truth to surface, shocked her community and drew sustained news coverage across Connecticut.

According to investigators, Mimi died in her family's Farmington home in the fall of 2024. <cite index="5-14">The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said she was extremely malnourished, but there were no obvious signs of injury to her body that would have contributed to her death.</cite> Prosecutors determined her <cite index="1-6">cause of death was ruled fatal child abuse with starvation, and her manner of death was homicide (maltreatment and neglect).</cite>

For almost a year after she died, Mimi's death was not publicly known. Court records show that <cite index="2-5">Nanita drop Jacqueline's remains outside of an abandoned home on Clark Street in New Britain in late September, and that he also helped her mother, Karla Garcia, stuff her body into a tote, back in October 2024, and attempted to cover up the smell with chemicals.</cite> The case broke open only because <cite index="2-6,2-7">friends of Nanita's current girlfriend led police to Jacqueline's remains after the girlfriend had been talking about Nanita "possibly" moving a body in a tote</cite>, prompting them to check the abandoned property themselves before calling police.

Mimi's remains were found on October 8, 2025, behind the abandoned building. Her mother, Karla Garcia, was arrested on October 12, 2025, and charged with murder. Her aunt, Jackelyn Garcia, was arrested and charged with child abuse. The following day, police took Jonatan Nanita, her mother's boyfriend, into custody. He was initially <cite index="3-8">charged with murder with special circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder with special circumstances, risk of injury and cruelty to a child</cite>, and later with tampering with evidence, disposal of a body and kidnapping.

The case has continued through Connecticut's courts for the past year. Nanita pleaded not guilty to the charges in March 2026 and is <cite index="1-10,1-11">expected to appear at Litchfield Court in Torrington for pretrial hearings, held on a $5 million bond.</cite> On the first anniversary of the discovery of her remains, in mid October 2026, new reporting showed that <cite index="0-12,0-13">on October 29th, 2025, records from the Department of Corrections showed he wrapped a bed sheet around his neck, and was found by corrections officers around 4 pm, who said he told them that he did not feel safe in the facility and could no longer be there.</cite> An officer wrote that his actions appeared to be for "secondary gain" rather than a genuine attempt at self-harm. Mimi's mother and Nanita also face separate, unrelated fraud charges tied to public food assistance benefits, filed amid the broader case concerning her death.

There is no public record of a funeral, memorial service or burial site for Jacqueline Torres-Garcia, and her extended family has not spoken publicly about her life before her death. What is known of her comes almost entirely through the criminal case brought in her name, a case that remains open as prosecutors continue to seek accountability for the adults who were responsible for her care.