A woman was recently suffocated and killed in New York on the same day she turned 21, officials say.
Suspect Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis, 21, is accused of murdering Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza in Syracuse June 18. The Syracuse Police Department told Fox News Digital the suspect has been charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.
A source from the Department of Homeland Security recently told the New York Post both Chacaguasay-Ilbis and Toaquiza were in the U.S. illegally. Both are from Ecuador.
Prosecutor Alphonse Williams told The Post-Standard of Syracuse the suspect was staying at an Airbnb at the time of the murder. He reportedly traveled to see Toaquiza on her 21st birthday.
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Suspect Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis was arrested for allegedly killing a 21-year-old woman. (WSYR-TV)
Eerie surveillance footage shows the pair walking into the Airbnb at around 4:30 p.m. June 18. A few hours later, Chacaguasay-Ilbis was videotaped carrying a slumped-over Toaquiza on his back.
Williams was told Chacaguasay-Ilbis and Toaquiza went to primary school together in Ecuador. A source told the New York Post Toaquiza fled her native country to escape an abusive lover, but the identity of the ex-partner is unknown.
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Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis and Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza were captured on surveillance footage before the June 18 homicide. (WSYR-TV)
Williams alleges Chacaguasay-Ilbis buried Toaquiza’s body in a shallow grave before taking a Greyhound bus to New York City. He later turned himself in to authorities.
The Syracuse Police Department told Fox News Digital the suspect is being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center. The investigation is ongoing.
Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza had just turned 21 when she was killed. (GoFundMe)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for additional information but did not immediately hear back.