A doorbell camera captured the moment an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, accused of killing a 21-year-old woman, removed her lifeless body from a residence in Syracuse.
Jhon Moisés Chacaguasay-Ilbis, also 21, can be seen entering the Airbnb they met around 4:20 p.m. on June 18 in the images with Joselyn Toaquiza still alive.
Three hours later, the video shows Toaquiza being carried on his back, her arms and legs limp. It’s not clear from the footage if she’s still alive, but she would end up buried in a shallow grave a few feet away in Lincoln Park, just across the street.
Toaquiza, who was celebrating her birthday on the day of the killing, studied with Chacaguasay-Ilbis in her home country. Police say he traveled from Ecuador to Syracuse last week to meet her, after arriving in the United States a year earlier.
He turned himself in to federal agents at the border and, as of this writing, his whereabouts are unknown. It is also unknown whether or not he was in the process of applying for asylum, as police revealed this week that he had been arrested.
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A doorbell camera captured the moment an Ecuadorian man accused of killing a 21-year-old woman removed her lifeless body from a residence in Syracuse.
The footage shows Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis (not pictured) entering the Airbnb at 916 Hawley Avenue on June 18, with the still-living Joselyn Toaquiza, seen here.
The newly released images appear to show her and her alleged killer (who police say suffocated her to death) hours before she was murdered.
She is then seen standing on the man’s shoulders as he carries her body out of the house and into the driveway.
Syracuse police didn’t find his body until Saturday morning, after which a co-worker of Toaquiza’s told CNY Central on Thursday, “I felt overwhelmed.”
“He’s trapped and everything will come to light,” Jennifer Engel said through tears, when police officers were finally able to locate her missing daughter and handcuff the alleged killer.
“She’s not coming back.”
Police detained Chacaguasay-Ilbis on Wednesday in Spring Valley, another New York town about 230 miles from the alleged crime scene.
The newly released images appear to show her and her alleged stalker, who police say choked her to death, hours before she was killed.
Toaquiza, who had been celebrating his birthday on the day of the murder, studied with Chacaguasay-Ilbis in his native Ecuador. Police say he traveled to Syracuse last week to meet her, after arriving in the US a year earlier.
At that time, officers added that the owner of the Airbnb that was renting to the suspect told officers that blood was found inside the home, although they did not provide other details.
After leading Toaquiza to the driveway, the camera loses sight of him, but he then returns and comes out wearing a new set of clothes, the video shows.
He got into a waiting Lyft minivan and, according to police, took him to a local Greyhound station.
He then boarded a bus with a ticket to New York City, after which he turned himself in to police on Tuesday night in Spring Valley.
The city, located in Rockland County, is about 35 miles northwest of New York City, near the New York-New Jersey border.
Police added in their statement that, as was the case last year, Chacaguasay-Ilbis’ whereabouts during the past week remain unknown.
What is known is that Chacaguasay-Ilbis traveled to the United States last year and turned himself in at the border, after which, like so many others in recent years, he was released in the county.
Police said he may have been in the process of applying for asylum, but that also remains unknown.
She is then seen on the man’s shoulders as he carries her body out of the house and into the driveway.
Syracuse police did not find her body until Saturday morning, buried in a shallow grave just across the street.
Syracuse police picked him up Wednesday morning from more than 200 miles away, after which he was transported back to central New York, where he was arraigned Thursday. Several people are seen outside the home last month as the search for the woman began.
After being picked up by Syracuse police Wednesday morning, he was transported back to central New York, where he was arraigned Thursday morning.
Police went on to reveal how Toaquiza also came from Chile and emigrated from the county last year along with his uncle.
The couple lived together on Syracuse’s north side, not far from the alleged murder scene.
The surveillance video, they said, came from the owner of the property used as an Airbnb, who shared it with the woman’s family and police.
As of this writing, Chacaguasay-Ilbis is being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center without bond and will face court again on July 2.
Insiders allegedly working for Homeland Security told the New York Post that Chacaguasay-Ilbis crossed into the United States at El Paso and was released because there was not enough room to hold him.
Last week, three people drowned in the waters of the Rio Grande Tuesday night in far west El Paso, bringing the number of migrant deaths in federally run facilities in the city since October to 102.
In 2023, the El Paso and Del Rio border sectors experienced more crossings than any other location along the 2,000-mile stretch of land.
That year, about 4.2 million pedestrians crossed into El Paso from Juarez via the Stanton-Lerdo and Paso Del Norte bridges in the city center, data from the National Transportation Services Office show.
Since then, downtown bridges have seen increases in northbound crossings, though they remain below pre-pandemic numbers.
