Months-long investigation leads to 2 arrests after body found at Nashville wrecker yard

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After a months-long investigation, authorities have arrested two people for their connection to a homicide that occurred in December 2023 .

On Saturday, July 6, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced that a Davidson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging 38-year-old Jose Pablo Zavala with first-degree murder. He was reportedly taken into custody in Dallas, Texas on Friday, July 5.

Police said 31-year-old Rosa Carol Torres was also indicted and faces charges of evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

According to MNPD, the charges stem from an incident on Dec. 27, 2023, after officers found the body of 58-year-old Orlando Hernandez hidden inside an SUV at a Nashville wrecker yard.

Authorities reported Hernandez was found by an employee at the wrecker yard who was inspecting the inside of a Chevrolet Blazer when they found the body concealed in the back seat.

The Chevrolet, which belonged to Hernandez, was reportedly towed from a residence in the 50 block of Tusculum Road on Dec. 15, 2023, at the request of the landlord who believed it had been abandoned.

After a months-long investigation, detectives determined that, as part of a drug-motivated crime, Zavala killed Hernandez inside a home on N. Natchez Court. He is then accused of placing Hernandez’s body into the rear seat of his Chevrolet Blazer, which was outside the home on Tusculum Road.

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Torres is believed to have helped dispose of the body and remains jailed in Wilson County, police said. Meanwhile, Zavala will be returned to Nashville from Texas in the near future.

No other information was immediately released.

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