Police arrest two people months after body found at Nashville, Tennessee junkyard

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – After a months-long investigation, authorities have arrested two people in connection with a December 2023 murder.

On Saturday, July 6, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced that a Davidson County grand jury had indicted 38-year-old Jose Pablo Zavala on a charge of first-degree murder. He was reportedly taken into custody on Friday, July 5, in Dallas, Texas.

According to police, 31-year-old Rosa Carol Torres was also charged. She is accused of tampering with evidence and desecration of a corpse.

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

Authorities reported that Hernandez was found by a junkyard employee who was examining the interior of a Chevrolet Blazer and discovered the body hidden in the back seat.

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

After a months-long investigation, officers determined that Zavala killed Hernandez during a drug-related crime at a home on N. Natchez Court and then placed his body in the back seat of his Chevrolet Blazer, which was parked in front of the home on Tusculum Road.

Torres is believed to have helped dispose of the body and is still in jail in Wilson County, according to police. Zavala is expected to be brought back to Nashville from Texas shortly.

No further information was immediately released.