‘I knew he did it’: Mother of Lakeland murder victim reflects on accused killer’s arrest

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – A grieving mother says new murder charges filed against her daughter’s accused killer can help her heal.

“It’s like a chapter that closed, so I can open another chapter,” said Narda M. Tolentino. “But nothing’s going to return my daughter back.” 

Her daughter, Jeannairy “Jeannie” Dominguez, 25, was killed in her Monroe Street apartment on July 19.

“She was a great mom. She had a good, goofy personality and she was always smiling, even when times were tough. She was still smiling,” said Tolentino.

Police say, the pregnant mother of three was shot several times through her apartment’s front door.

“We all don’t think she was supposed to be dying this way. She didn’t deserve to die like that,” said Juan Dominguez, Jeannie Dominguez’s father.

“It’s a horrific situation that occurred,” said Lakeland Police Asst. Chief Sam Taylor. “Think about the children that were in there. They hear what’s going on and they come out and find their mother in the living room suffering from gunshot wounds. Absolutely horrific.” 

Dominguez’s children are 3, 5 and 7 years old.

On Monday evening, Lakeland Police arrested Dominguez’s ex-boyfriend, Jacarie Moore, 22, on first degree murder and child abuse charges.

He has been in jail since early August on aggravated assault charges involving another girlfriend, according to Lakeland police.

“During the background and the research, we were able to identify an additional case. We obtained a warrant and put him in jail for that warrant. So we at least knew that he was in jail,” said Asst. Chief Taylor.

According to the arrest affidavit, Moore blamed Dominguez for a break-in at his residence.

No evidence has shown that Dominguez was involved in the break-in.

After calling police and filing a burglary report, he and his roommate, Rodrigo Guzman, drove to Dominguez’s apartment in a black Kia, according to police.

“Guzman watched [Moore] walk up to the victim’s apartment. Guzman stated he heard multiple gunshots. Guzman stated he knew why they were going to the victim’s house and stated [Moore] was talking about what he was going to do on the drive to the victim’s house,” the affidavit reads.

An investigation into Guzman’s involvement in the murder is ongoing, according to Asst. Chief Taylor.

Police executed 15 search warrants and connected Moore to the scene through his vehicle and GPS on his phone.

“Throughout all the process, I never doubted it. I knew he did it,” said Tolentino.

Tolentino said he overheard Moore threaten her daughter on the phone.

Dominguez had moved on from her relationship with Moore and was living on her own with her children when she was killed, her mother said.

Dominguez was five-seven weeks pregnant when she was killed.

Tolentino said if she could say anything to Moore, it would be “I forgive you.”

“If I don’t forgive him, I won’t be able to go on. When you got hate inside of you, that eats you up from the inside out and you don’t heal,” she said.

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