LAKE WORTH, Fla. – A South Florida mother was arrested Monday, nearly two years after her then-14-year-old son was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Josefina Cardona-Cardona, 43, tried to hire a hitman to kill two cooperating witnesses in her son’s case.
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Authorities said undercover agents met up with Cardona-Cardona on multiple occasions during which time she agreed to pay the agent to kill the witnesses.
She is charged with two counts of solicitation to commit murder.
The sheriff’s office noted in a news release Tuesday that Cardona-Cardona is in the U.S. illegally and is subject to deportation following her prosecution.
She is being held without bond and is expected to appear in court Tuesday.
According to deputies, Cardona-Cardona’s son, Manuel Marcos Cardona, of Lake Worth Beach, was involved in a fight at a 5-year-old’s birthday party on June 18, 2022, that resulted in a 19-year-old man being stabbed.
WPDE reported that the victim was trying to stop a fight between two people, one whom allegedly struck a girl in the face with a beer bottle.
According to their report, Cardona’s father punched the victim in the face when he intervened and then Cardona stabbed him. The victim was then kicked on the ground by a group of people, including Cardona’s parents, until he fainted, WPDE reported.
Authorities confirmed that the victim was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
Cardona, now 16, fled with his family to North Carolina after the killing and they were located there in July 2022, authorities said.
He was then extradited to South Florida.
Cardona pled guilty to second-degree murder in February and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He is subject to deportation following his sentence.