Yessica Baena Torres, 22, a Hispanic mother, was found dead inside her vehicle near the intersection of Troupville and Studstill roads in Brooks County on May 1, 2022. The Brooks County Sheriff’s Office requested help from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as the case developed.

Investigators identified Torres’s boyfriend and the father of her infant child, Roberto Andablo Gaona, as a suspect. An arrest warrant was issued after Gaona fled the state; U.S. Marshals arrested him in McAllen, Texas, two days after Torres’s body was discovered and he was extradited to Georgia to face charges.

Prosecutors charged Gaona with malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. A Brooks County jury found him guilty of malice murder and the firearm charge in December 2023; sentencing was set for the following month. Did anyone in the Quitman area know Yessica or have information about her last day?