During a court hearing on Monday, the Florida man forced to wear his girlfriend’s clothing and wig after witnessing her murder and then ordered to help clean up the scene and dispose of her body revealed even more horrific alleged details.
Elga Davis II, 29, testified at a pretrial detention hearing for Arnaldo Cintron, the accused murderer, aged 42.
Davis was dating Hiojaira Mercedes Velez-Bonilla, 41, who lived with her 37-year-old cousin, Giselle Marie Santiago Bonilla. Cintron is Santiago Bonilla’s boyfriend.
According to Davis, Cintron and the Velez-Bonilla were yelling at each other in Spanish before the violent altercation.
“I hear them arguing, and I hear him say, ‘don’t call me names no more,'” Davis testified in court, according to video from local NBC affiliate WFLA.
Cintron allegedly held a knife to Velez-Bonilla’s throat at that point.
“I’m sitting there, and the next thing I know, I hear somebody getting hit in the throat,” Davis said, imitating the sound his girlfriend made. “Then I tried to go run over there and then I see her on the floor.” Davis then stated that Velez-Bonilla was writhing on the floor at this point.
Cintron repeatedly stabbed Velez-Bonilla, Davis claimed. After putting an end to the brutal attack, Cintron focused on Davis.
“Honestly, I was kind of frozen for a minute, and then it kind of clicked that I was in danger and so then I’m trying to … get distance,” says Davis. “And that’s when he comes with me a knife and he’s like, ‘hey I don’t want witnesses, feel me?'”
Davis described himself as “terrified” as Cintron mentioned “how bad a person she is,” referring to the victim.
They then needed a place to keep the victim’s body and grabbed a box from the garage, Davis explained.
“Did she fit into the box?” a prosecutor inquired.
The witness paused for a beat. “Yes, but we had to make it fit.”
Davis claimed he was never in control of the situation.
“I just did what I was told,” he explained.
The judge determined that there was sufficient evidence to keep Cintron in jail without bond.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the investigation began shortly after 9 p.m. on August 15 when Davis went to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to report his girlfriend’s murder.
Insets, from left to right: Arnaldo Cintron and Giselle Marie Santiago Bonilla (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Cintron allegedly stabbed a woman to death at her home in Riverview, Florida.
According to Davis, Velez-Bonilla lived with her two teenage sons and Santiago Bonilla, who had recently moved into the home on the 11000 block of Maybrook Avenue in Riverview, near Tampa. Velez-Bonilla and Cintron argued about paying bills and doing housework early on August 15, according to a pretrial detention motion.
Cintron allegedly pushed Velez-Bonilla to the ground, grabbed a knife, and repeatedly stabbed her while shouting “b—, b—, b—.” Davis attempted to exit, but Cintron and Santiago Bonilla blocked his path, “cornering him” in the kitchen, prosecutors wrote.
The defendants then forced Davis to “help them clean it up” or he “was next,” according to the witness. They also took his cellphone, according to the motion. The witness and suspects reportedly spent the next two to four hours cleaning up. Cintron repeatedly told Davis that he “did this for him” while Santiago Bonilla said the victim was “evil, and she deserved this for the way she treated” the witness, according to prosecutors.
At one point, the victim’s son appears to have emerged from his room to inquire about his mother’s whereabouts and the mess. According to the motion, Cintron and Santiago Bonilla informed the teen that they were cleaning up a spilled drink while his mother left to be with another man.
Next, the suspects allegedly forced Davis to put on one of the victim’s long dresses and wigs. According to the motion, they collected the cleaning supplies and alleged murder weapon and dumped them in a trash bag, while Velez-Bonilla’s body was stuffed into a cardboard box and covered with porch screening. The suspects allegedly loaded the body and trash bag into the victim’s vehicle and forced him to drive to an apartment complex to meet a man he knew as “Tarzan.”
“You know one eye Willy is in the back,” Cintron allegedly told “Tarzan” as he entered the car, referring to the victim, who wore an eye patch due to a medical condition, according to the motion.
Cintron, his girlfriend Santiago Bonilla, and “Tarzan” then allegedly discussed the best methods for disposing of the victim’s body. Santiago Bonilla suggested that they kick the victim’s teeth in and cut off her hands to make it more difficult to identify her, according to prosecutors. They eventually decided to drive over the Gandy Bridge to St. Petersburg and then to a secluded area of the Weedon Island Natural Preserve, according to the motion. They ended up parking in an area of “dense mangroves” — Florida’s native trees.
They then allegedly took the cardboard box containing the body and dragged it deep into the mangroves, where they dumped her remains. After driving away, the suspects realized they had left behind the trash bag containing cleaning supplies and the murder weapon, according to the motion, and forced Davis to return and retrieve it. According to prosecutors, they drove away and dumped the trash bag in an apartment complex.
The defendants then allegedly directed Davis to clean the car. Cintron also accessed the victim’s bank account, which contained more than $30,000, and offered some of it to Davis, according to prosecutors.
Following the interview, Davis showed investigators where he dumped his girlfriend’s body.
Cintron is accused of second-degree murder, unlawfully moving a deceased person, tampering with evidence, and tampering with a witness. Santiago Bonilla is accused of unlawfully moving a dead body, tampering with evidence, accessory after the fact, and tampering with witnesses. She has a $200,000 bond. They are set to appear in court on Monday.
“This was a brutal act of violence followed by a callous attempt to cover it up,” Sheriff Chad Chronister stated. “No life should ever be taken in such a senseless manner, and no attempt to conceal a crime will protect the perpetrators from prosecution. Our detectives were relentless in holding both individuals accountable, and they will now face the full weight of the law.”
