Police said Tuesday the death of Joysee Cartagena has been ruled a homicide. A beloved former school employee, she was found unconscious with a zip tie on her neck, police said.
The death of Florida mother Joysee Cartagena has been ruled a homicide, police announced Tuesday. The beloved former school employee was found in her home on July 17 with a zip tie around her neck, authorities said.
Cartagena, 49, was found unconscious after officers responded to two 911 calls seeking help for the woman, Sanford Police Department Public Information Officer Bianca Gillett told a news conference Tuesday.
Cartagena was pronounced dead at the scene, Gillett said. Based on initial interviews with people close to the victim, investigators thought the death could be a suicide, she said.
"It is (now) clear that suicide was not the cause of death," Gillett told local reporters. Investigators have identified a person of interest known to the victim, but are not releasing any other details about that person because of the ongoing investigation, she said.
Gillett also said one of the 911 calls came from Cartagena's employer, who asked for a welfare check when she did not check in. The woman worked remotely from home, Gillett said. Another call came from someone who appeared to be on the scene and was emotional, Gillett said. That call is hard to understand, Gillett said, but the words "cut it off" could be heard.
The victim worked for Seminole County Public Schools from 2015 to 2022, as a secretary and a clerk at two schools, authorities said.
Her son, Steven Rivera Cartagena, told Fox35 Monday that his mother was his "best friend." The 22-year-old said he was in class when he got a phone call telling him to come to the home he shared with her.
"My mom was my world to me. That's all I knew, and that's all I wanted to know," he said. "Losing her, it just kind of made me feel like I was an orphan in a way. I was like, 'What do I do?'"
His mother had a smile that lit up a room, he said. He couldn't imagine why anyone would want to take her life, he told the station.
"That's the question we all had. Who would do something to her?" he said.
The Sanford Police Department is asking anyone with information about the case to contact investigators at 407-688-5070 or Crimeline at 800-423-8477.
Related Stories
