GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta mother of two and taxi driver who was kidnapped and killed two years ago was tortured before her death by a drug trafficking organization, a north Georgia district attorney said this week in announcing guilty pleas for nine defendants in the case.
Rossana Delgado's body was found in Gilmer County in April 2021, several days after the 37-year-old was reported missing by her husband.
Delgado called her husband, Yhony Castro, on April 16, 2021 to let him know she'd be home for dinner after picking up her last rider of the day. That was the last time he heard from her.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation subsequently announced numerous arrests, including some in Mexico, with 14 in all eventually indicted in a RICO case according to the district attorney in Gilmer County.
According to DA B. Alison Sosebee, the defendants were part of a drug trafficking organization who tortured Delgado at several locations in the days following her kidnapping, then killed her at a cabin in Gilmer County.
"At the cabin in Gilmer County, Georgia, associates of the (drug trafficking organization) did torture Delgado prior to her death and eventually carried out the killing of Delgado and dismemberment and burning of Delgado's body," a release by the DA's Office stated. "They subsequently concealed and destroyed evidence of the murder of Delgado. Additionally, associates of the (drug trafficking organization) secured transportation and facilitated the fleeing of associates of the (drug trafficking organization) to Mexico to prevent their apprehension."
The DA's Office announced nine guilty pleas in the case.
- Oscar Manuel Garcia pleaded to the most serious offenses of malice murder, kidnapping, concealing the death of another, removal of body parts from scene of death, aggravated battery and violation of RICO. He was sentenced to life in prison.
- Juan Ayala-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to kidnapping, concealing the death of another aggravated battery and violation of RICO. He was also sentenced to life in prison.
- Juan Antonio Vega pleaded guilty to kidnapping, concealing the death of another, aggravated battery and violation of RICO. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
- Megan Alyssa Colone pleaded guilty to violation of RICO and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
- Eva Galicia Martinez pleaded guilty to violation of RICO and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
- Four others - Terri Amanda Garner, Patrick Harvard, Calvin Harvard and Shawn Callaway - pleaded guilty to violation of RICO and were sentenced to unspecified prison terms plus probation.
Three other defendants have never been arrested. They are:
- Mario Albert Barbosa-Juarez, charged with malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, concealing the death of another, removal of body parts from scene of death, aggravated battery and violation of RICO.
- Carolina Jazmin Rodriguez Ramirez, charged with felony murder, kidnapping and violation of RICO.
- Maria Katherine Encarnacion, charged with felony murder, kidnapping and violation of RICO.
"It is my hope, even though this matter remains open, that the resolutions and sentences entered at this time will assist the family and loved ones of Rossana Delgado in beginning to obtain closure," DA Sosebee said in a statement.