Girl, 12, Allegedly Didn't Eat for 2 Weeks Before Death. Then Family Moved — with Her Remains — to a Different Home By KC Baker

Chilling new details have emerged about the 12-year-old Connecticut girl whose body was found stuffed in a plastic bin after being missing for a year.

Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia was not given food in the two weeks before she died and was often restrained with zip ties, according to arrest and search warrants that have been released in recent weeks, the Associated Press reports.

Last week, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Mimi’s cause of death as fatal child abuse with starvation and the manner of death as homicide, NBC Connecticut reports.

The little girl weighed only 26 to 27 pounds when she died, according to an affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE.

She was never reported missing, police said, WWNY reports.

On Oct. 8, New Britain Police officers were called to an abandoned building in response to a report of suspicious behavior, New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said at an Oct. 13 press conference.

Officers found a large container in the backyard containing what was believed to be human remains, New Britain Police Chief Matthew Marino said. The remains were identified as those of Torres-Garcia.

Investigators determined that she likely died in the fall of 2024 when her family lived in Farmington, Farmington Public Safety Director Paul Melanson said.

Her family allegedly took her remains with them when they moved from Farmington in March 2025, he said.

When authorities opened the 40-gallon bin, they found the child’s body inside a plastic bag wrapped in a comforter and sheets in a laundry basket, according to the affidavit.

As PEOPLE previously reported, on Oct. 12, Mimi’s mother, Karla Garcia, 29, was arrested and charged with a number of counts including murder with special circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder with special circumstances, improper disposal of a dead body and intentional cruelty to a child under the age of 19.

Garcia pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $5 million bond.

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That same day, the child’s aunt, Jackelyn Garcia, 28, was arrested and charged with intentional cruelty to a child under the age of 19, risk of injury to a child and first-degree unlawful restraint.

She pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $1 million bond.

Garcia’s ex-boyfriend, Jonatan “JoJo” Nanita, 30, was taken into custody on Oct. 13 on a felony arrest warrant, the New Britain Police Department said in a statement on Facebook.

He is accused of killing the child along with Garcia, police said during the press conference.

He was later charged with tampering with evidence and disposal of a body. He pleaded not guilty. 

Nanita is being held on $5 million bond for the initial charges and $750,000 for the new charges, according to online jail records.

Authorities allege that Nanita brought the container holding the girl’s remains to the property on Clark St. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, police said at the press conference.

According to the affidavit, Nanita’s current girlfriend told police that at the end of September, he drove to a cemetery, picked up a plastic bin and put it in the trunk of his Acura, then drove it to New Britain and left it there, the affidavit alleges.

She said the bin “smelled bad” and told people she thought there was a body inside, the affidavit states.

The three appeared in court on Friday for hearings.

Garcia is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 19; her sister on Dec. 12; and Nanita on Dec. 16.

Attorneys for the three did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.