In Caguas, Puerto Rico, Keyla Castro Collazo, the mother of slain nurse Jennifer Torres Castro, testified in court that she met Carlos Manuel Estefano Pino, the suspect in her daughter’s murder, two months before the killing. Castro Collazo said she recognized Pino when she saw his picture after his arrest on July 1, the same day her daughter was buried.
She recalled that Pino and her daughter had come to her house together to pick up lunch, and that her daughter affectionately called him 'abuelo'. The investigation found that Torres Castro’s body was discovered on June 24 in her residence in the Río Cañas neighborhood, with signs of violence. The case was initially reported as a non-violent death, but was later reclassified as a homicide after forensic evidence revealed that Torres Castro had been bitten and asphyxiated.
Estefano Pino, a 67-year-old man with a prior conviction for feminicide in 1990, is being held without bail. The preliminary hearing will continue on Wednesday at 2:00 PM in the Caguas Judicial Center, with additional testimony scheduled for October 27.