Motion to suppress statements in Guerrero Torres case approved

The public defender’s office scored a win for its client, Jorge Guerrero Torres, who stands accused of killing 9-year-old Diana Alvarez.

Judge Margaret O. Steinbeck ruled in the defense’s favor on a motion to suppress statements made by Guerrero Torres during his interrogation.

He made several statements to law enforcement after his arrest on June 3, 2016. He was questioned four different times over the course of a few days.

Alvarez was missing at the time of Guerrero Torres’ arrest, which led investigators to believe that he was responsible for her disappearance and death.

His attorney argued he initially was not given his Miranda warning. Once he was given his warning, there was a language barrier because he did not speak English.

Court records state, “The ‘on-scene’ Spanish language translation of what the law enforcement officers were telling or asking the Defendant in English, and the on-scene translation of the Defendant’s Spanish language statements of responses, were in many instances different, in substance, from the translation provided in the written transcript of the audio recordings admitted into evidence.”

Criminal defense attorney Jill Prenger reviewed the judge’s order with us and said she understood why the motion was granted.

“This was a high-emotional, high-stakes situation where there is a hurricane rolling in, and they’re trying to figure out where this little girl is, and unfortunately, sometimes that’s when mistakes get made,” Prenger said.

But the fact is that state attorneys have lost a crucial piece of evidence to use during trial.

“What the jury is looking at if they ultimately … find him guilty, they would have to determine, based on the evidence, is there enough to make the determination that death is appropriate, and if you start removing certain types of evidence, then it weakens the grounds to be able to say that, yes, it is appropriate in this case to impose the death penalty,” Prenger said.

Excerpt from Order Granting Defendant’s Motion to Suppress

Guerrero Torres is expected to return to court on March 5.

Here is a timeline of Alvarez’s disappearance:

SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2016

2 a.m.: Diana was last seen on the 3500 block of Unique Circle when her pregnant mother, Rita Hernandez, checked the rooms of their home in the Sheltering Pines Mobile Home Village.

3 a.m.: Guerrero may have been with Diana at this time. “Based on statements Mr. Guerrero made to law enforcement, there are admissions that place him with Diana at some period in the morning, approximately at 3 o’clock in Lee County,” Alvarez family’s lawyer Tom Busatta said in June.

3—7 a.m.: Diana’s whereabouts are unknown at this time, but when Hernandez woke up, she noticed all four of the burners on her stove were turned on and that Diana’s purple-striped shoes were missing.

10:40 a.m.: The Lee County Sheriff’s Office sent out its first in many public emails about Diana Alvarez. It was titled “Lee County Sheriff’s Office Press Release: Missing Juvenile Diana Alvares” and featured a school photo of Diana.

1 p.m.: Authorities discussed Jorge Guerrero as a suspect. According to deputy emails, they had his date of birth, car description, and possible location.

6:44 p.m.: The sheriff’s office sends a photo of Guerrero to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

MONDAY, MAY 30, 2016

12:05 a.m.: FDLE sends a missing child alert for Diana after receiving the request from LCSO. It does not mention Guerrero.“FDLE received a request from Lee County Sheriff’s Office for a Missing Child Alert. A Missing Child Alert was issued,” said Gretl Plessinger, spokesperson for FDLE.

THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2016

11:43 a.m.: LCSO requests that FDLE issue an AMBER Alert for Diana. The agency in charge of any missing child case must request the alert from FDLE. The requirements for an AMBER Alert include:

A request from the local law enforcement agency
Child under 18
A clear indication of an abduction
Detailed description of child, abductor or vehicle

12:30 p.m.: FDLE issues an AMBER Alert for Diana. This time, it includes a photo of Guerrero and lists his connections to Orange and Okeechobee counties.

Her remains were not found until 2020 near Yeehaw Junction in Central Florida after investigators found pictures of Diana on Guerrero Torres’ cell phone.

They found that the phone had traveled from Orlando to the Fort Myers area just one day before Diana was reported missing, then to Yeehaw Junction.

Guerrero Torres was ultimately arrested and charged with her kidnapping. He was later convicted in federal court for child pornography relating to those photos and sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.