An illegal immigrant from Ecuador was arrested Tuesday in Syracuse, N.Y., for reportedly killing a 21-year-old woman and burying her body in a shallow grave in an upstate New York park, police said.
Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis, 21, is charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. He was arraigned in Syracuse City Court Thursday morning.
Through a Spanish interpreter, Chacaguasay-Ilbis said he didn't remember anything because he was drunk.
Chacaguasay-Ilbis traveled to Central New York last week to meet with the woman, Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza, for her birthday, according to prosecutor Alphonse Williams, reports Syracuse.com.
The pair reportedly knew each other and attended the same elementary school in Ecuador.
According to the Onondaga County District Attorney, Toaquiza was in a relationship with Chacaguasay-Ilbis.
Surveillance video from an Airbnb where Chacaguasay-Ilbis was staying shows the pair walking into the home on June 18 and Chacaguasay-Ilbis carrying her out three hours later.
The Airbnb was across the street from Lincoln Park, where Toaquiza's body was found on June 22.
A Homeland Security source told the New York Post that Chacaguasay-Ilbis was picked up by Border Patrol agents in January 2023 after illegally crossing the border in El Paso, Texas, then released into the U.S. because there wasn't enough space to hold him.