'He IS going to KILL me'

Sofia Garcia lived on a street where heated arguments sometimes spill out onto porches and stereo music blares out of open windows.

But a day after Garcia was found dead in her apartment with a plastic bag over her head, residents on this stretch of North Harding said the mother of three was unlike her neighbors.

"Everybody gets along on that street and [plays] with each other -- just messing around," said resident Luis Hernandez, 28. "But she kept to herself."

Many didn't know, for example, that Garcia, 30, had an order of protection against her husband, a man she claimed threatened to kill her and himself.

Police want to talk to Garcia's husband, Benito O. Casanova. Neither he nor the couple's three children -- ages 6, 7 and 11 -- have been seen since the children left school after classes Friday.

Monday, the day police issued an Amber Alert, investigators said they believe Casanova picked up the children from Yates Elementary School Friday. But Tuesday, the school's principal, Harry Randell, told the Sun-Times that other parents have told him they saw Garcia pick up the children Friday.

In the last few years, Garcia was granted two civil orders of protection against Casanova -- the most recent in February 2007. It was valid through March 2009, according to court records.

In her petition for the most recent order, Garcia wrote: "He chocked me, telling me that he was going to KILL me because I did not want to be with him. He ALWAYS tells me that he IS going to KILL me if I don't take him back, then kill himself. He said that if I go to the police, he will 'take it out on my sisters.' He says he will kill me and then himself so he doesn't go to jail. I am very, very scared.' "

A judge approved the petition, ordering Casanova to have "no contact" by any means, with Garcia, her sisters and his children.

Casanova was also ordered to keep away from: the Target in Evanston where Garcia worked, her 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass and Yates Elementary.

Randell said Tuesday he was not notified of the order of protection.

Garcia's body was discovered in a closet in her home Monday afternoon. An upstairs neighbor said Garcia's sister discovered the body. The neighbor, Lorenza Vallez, said Garcia had a plastic bag over her head and Garcia's blouse was pulled up, revealing her stomach. On Tuesday, the Cook County medical examiner's office said Garcia died of brain injuries from an assault.

Investigators said Casanova may be driving a silver or gray 2002 Dodge Dakota with Illinois plate number 86196HB.

Photo: Fernando Casanova ; Photo: Karla Casanova Photo: Oscar Casanova Photo: Rich Hein, Sun-Times / Lorenza Vallez lived upstairs from Sofia Garcia and said Garcia's sister discovered her body. Photo: Sofia Garcia Photo: Benito Casanova ;