Autopsy shows Chattanooga woman savagely beaten

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4103 Shady Oaks Drive

4103 Shady Oaks Drive

Jeimy Baquero's life left her as a killer beat her blow after blow after blow.

The 34-year-old woman's body was found wrapped in blankets tucked away inside a man's home Thursday. When she was unwrapped by authorities, they discovered someone had brutally beat her to death -- striking her an estimated 22 times with an unknown object, according to a Hamilton County medical examiner's report.

Her head was struck 12 times, sustaining numerous skull fractures, her back four times, her abdomen twice, the report said, and her forearms and hands were a solid mass of bruises.

Authorities responded to 4103 Shady Oaks Drive after the homeowner discovered Baquero's body in the closet. When investigators interviewed the homeowner, Alfredo Garcia, they asked him if he owned a baseball bat.

Garcia had kicked a tenant out of the home when he learned some unsavory things about him, Garcia's family members have said. Now authorities are looking for the same man, who they believe may be headed to Mexico.

A first-degree murder warrant has been issued for Jose Angel Lopez Hernandez. He also uses other aliases, including Rene A. Hernandez.

Baquero had no criminal record, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and it's unclear why she was killed.

Luz Bohorquez, a close friend of Baquero's, said she is missed.

"Everyone in the Hispanic community knew her very well. She was a very happy woman, very generous, always giving back," Bohorquez said. "Very loving and warm. She always had a smile on her face.

"She was an athlete, loved nature. Very involved with the community. It's a cruelty what happened to her. It's something she didn't deserve. It's something inhumane that broke everyone's heart."

Baquero was hairdresser and married with a 17-year-old son. A trust fund has been set up for her son at Bank of America in his name, Andres Felipe Munoz Baquero.

On Facebook, a tribute page was set up for Baquero. As of Tuesday night, she had more than 200 people "like" her page.

"I knew her very little, but no human being deserves to die like that. The one who killed her, feels like he was such a macho man to kill her like that," said Gustavo Espino in a Facebook post. "He should now be a man and turn himself in and not run like a coward."

Alfredo Espinoza, radio host for "Que Buen Rollo," a show on the Spanish-language station La Que Buena -- 101.9-FM in Dalton, Ga. -- met Baquero when she first moved to Chattanooga.

"I was in shock when I found out what happened to her," Espinoza said Tuesday. "They told me she was missing on Wednesday and I made an announcement in the radio show in case she was listening.

"She was a very nice person willing to lend a hand to anyone who asked. She would talk to anyone, very social and loved by the whole [Hispanic] community."

Services are scheduled for today at Brainerd Church of Christ.

Anyone with any information about Hernandez's whereabouts can contact the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 423-209-8940 or reach a dispatcher at 423-622-0022.

Staff writer Perla Trevizo contributed to this report.

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