Pregnant mother of 1 found dead in a suitcase after the man she had broken up previously killed her just because he thought she cheated on him; man sentenced
Wisconsin – In a horrific case in Wisconsin that left a family shattered and a community stunned, a 27-year-old man identified as J. Dominguez-Garcia, 27, will spend decades behind bars after admitting responsibility for the brutal death of his pregnant girlfriend, R. Chavarria Rodriguez, whose remains were discovered stuffed inside a suitcase in an abandoned farmhouse. Though the sentence brought some relief, it fell short of what the victim’s family had desperately hoped for.
Dominguez-Garcia was initially charged with murder in December 2021, more than a year after Chavarria Rodriguez’s body was discovered. The charges were later amended to first-degree reckless homicide, to which he pleaded no contest on January 8. As part of his plea deal, charges of homicide of an unborn child and hiding a corpse were dismissed.
This month, Judge J. Isaacson sentenced Dominguez-Garcia to 40 years in prison. The sentence includes 25 years of initial confinement, followed by 15 years of extended supervision. He was also credited with serving 525 days in jail prior to the sentencing. Furthermore, the judge ordered Dominguez-Garcia to stay away from the victims’ family members and their places of work or residence. Despite the punishment handed down, Chavarria Rodriguez’s family had pleaded for a harsher sentence. “It was two lives that he took away, one was my daughter and the other was the baby my daughter had,” said her grieving father, J. Chavarria. He added, “I would like to see the authorities give him the maximum penalty. I don’t want them to have flexibility towards him.”
The gruesome series of events began in July 2020, when Chavarria Rodriguez was last seen alive working at restaurant in Wisconsin. The next sign of trouble came on July 23, 2020, when Dominguez-Garcia picked up her final paycheck. He told authorities the pair had broken up following an argument about infidelity. According to his account, he believed another man had fathered the child Chavarria Rodriguez was carrying. Investigators grew more suspicious after they located Chavarria Rodriguez’s vehicle in August. Fluids in the trunk suggested that a body had been stored there, though her remains were not immediately found. The break in the case came months later, when an informant in a separate drug investigation tipped police about a possible location.
In October 2020, police searched a vacant farmhouse. There, they found Chavarria Rodriguez’s remains stuffed into a purple suitcase. Due to the condition of the remains, it took almost a year to positively identify her. The young woman had been approximately seven weeks and five days pregnant, based on her last doctor’s appointment on June 18, 2020. Even though the body was discovered in 2020, Dominguez-Garcia managed to evade arrest until November 2023. Police located him in Missouri, after spotting a red Ford Fusion with stolen license plates. He was arrested and extradited to Wisconsin to face charges.
At sentencing, Judge Isaacson also ordered the release of Chavarria Rodriguez’s remains to her family, so they could finally lay her to rest. Her father said the family had been waiting for justice and for the chance to say goodbye. “She was a family girl, she was always responsible. She liked to study,” J. Chavarria said in tribute to his daughter. “That’s how we would like her to be remembered.” Chavarria Rodriguez leaves behind a now 9-year-old daughter, who currently lives with her grandmother in Peru. While the sentence has brought the case to a legal end, for the victim’s family, the pain and loss will continue long after the courtroom doors have closed.
