{"id":171751,"date":"2026-02-27T18:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T18:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171751\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T18:01:09","slug":"3rd-suspect-arrested-months-after-riverview-woman-found-murdered-and-dumped-in-weedon-island-nature-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171751\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd suspect arrested months after Riverview woman found murdered and dumped in Weedon Island Nature Preserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" article <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office <\/p>\n

RIVERVIEW, Fla. – A third suspect connected to the August murder of a 42-year-old Riverview woman has been arrested.<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

The Hillsborough County<\/a> Sheriff\u2019s Office arrested Andre Lamont Gerhardt, 33, on Tuesday in connection with the death of Hiojaira Velez-Bonilla.<\/p>\n

Detectives said that Gerhardt helped co-defendant Arnaldo Citron, 43, and co-defendant Giselle Santiago-Bonilla, 38, in transporting and disposing of the victim’s body in Pinellas County<\/a>. The co-defendants were arrested in August 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Courtesy: <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. <\/p>\n

After reviewing the evidence with the State Attorney\u2019s Office, additional charges were approved for Gerhardt and a warrant was obtained.<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The investigation began when a man showed up to an HCSO district office and told a deputy that he knew where to find a body in Pinellas County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The man, according to deputies, also disclosed that evidence had been left at other locations throughout Hillsborough County.<\/p>\n

That individual then led investigators to a site near the Gandy Bridge at the Weedon Island Preserve, where St. Pete police and medical examiners assisted in recovering the victim and processing the scene.<\/p>\n

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Arnaldo Cintron, 42, stabbed Bonilla during an argument over bills at a home they shared on Maybrook Ave. in Riverview earlier this month.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The victim’s boyfriend, who claimed to have witnessed the murder, told detectives that Cintron and his girlfriend, 37-year-old Giselle Bonilla, forced him to help clean up the crime scene and drive the victim’s car to dump her body in the Weedon Island Preserve in Pinellas County.<\/p>\n

The witness told investigators that Cintron and Giselle Bonilla threatened to kill both him and the victim’s son if he didn’t help cover up the crime.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Cintron was charged with second-degree murder with a weapon, unlawfully holding or moving a dead human body in unapproved conditions, tampering with physical evidence and tampering with a witness.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS: Suspect in Riverview woman’s murder in court for bond hearing Monday<\/a><\/p>\n

Giselle Bonilla was charged with tampering with physical evidence, unlawfully holding or moving a dead human body in unapproved conditions and tampering with a witness, and accessory after the fact.<\/p>\n

Gerhardt was arrested earlier this week and charged with unlawfully holding or moving a dead human body in unapproved conditions, felon carrying concealed weapon, accessory after the fact, and burglary of an occupied conveyance.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“From the very beginning of this investigation, our detectives made a commitment to pursue every lead and hold every individual accountable for their role in this horrific crime,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “The arrest of this third suspect sends a clear message: no matter how long it takes, we will not stop working until justice is served.”<\/p>\n

The Source: This article was written with information from a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office press release and previous FOX 13 News reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hillsborough County<\/a>Pinellas County<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office RIVERVIEW, Fla. – A third suspect connected to the August murder of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,1157,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-171751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}