SAN JOSE — A man jailed after an investigation into his ex-fiancée’s death unearthed allegations that he molested one of her children has now been charged with killing the woman, authorities said.
Ray Anthony Garcia, 29, of San Jose, now faces a murder charge in the death of 33-year-old Joanna Pinedo Gandara, with whom he shared a young son. San Jose police announced the charge Friday.
Pinedo’s body was discovered Dec. 2 at her Thelma Way home by her sister, according to a police report and a GoFundMe page organized by the same sister. Pinedo had not responded to text messages, prompting the home visit.
An autopsy determined that she died from “sharp force injuries” to her neck, according to records from the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office.
In the ensuing SJPD homicide investigation, Garcia was considered a person of interest but was not immediately declared a suspect. But he ended up being arrested and jailed because detectives were told that he sexually assaulted Pinedo’s child — but not the son he had with her — on Halloween. Police arrested Garcia based on that allegation, and he was booked Dec. 4 into the Elmwood men’s jail on a child sex abuse charge.
According to a police report, a family member of Pinedo told investigators that Garcia and the victim lived together as recently as a month before the death. That family member also stated that the couple had an unhealthy relationship marked by “psychological abuse.” The police report includes an account from the sexual assault victim, who recounted the sexual contact by Garcia.
Friday, police said that detectives had definitively linked Garcia to the homicide.
On the GoFundMe page set up to cover Pinedo’s funeral expenses and support her son and daughter, she is described as “a best friend to her children” and “the rock of the family.”
“This family will never be the same without her and neither will anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her. Her two children and family face the great tragedy to this unexpected loss with incredibly heavy hearts and irreparable grief,” the page reads. “Joanna was respected and loved. She was a friend, a mother, a sister and so much more.”
Anyone with information about the case can contact the San Jose Police Department homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or email Detective Sergeant J.J. Vallejo at 3810@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Mike Harrington at 4365@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.