Shivangi Sinha
In August 2018, two people walking along Russo Road in Fort Pierce, Florida, discovered the remains of a woman in a wooded area. She was later identified as Tania Wise, a 33-year-old woman who was nearly nine months pregnant at the time of her death. As detectives began investigating, they uncovered evidence suggesting that her disappearance and murder were far from random. A crucial tip soon pointed them toward a suspect with a possible motive, and investigators worked to connect the pieces of the case. ID’s ‘Killer Investigations: A Mother’s Murder’ explores the investigation and how authorities ultimately identified and arrested the person responsible.
Tania Wise Was a Week Away From Having Her Second Baby When She Was Killed
Tania Esther Wise was born on December 12, 1994, to Ricky Wise and Elizabeth Santiago. She and her siblings, Johnny, Michael, and Chynna, grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in a happy and loving family. Tania was always a kind and warm person and was very close to her family. In 2010, she became a mother herself when her son, Jamar Santiago Wise, was born. He was the person she loved most in the world, and she wanted to do everything she could to give him a good life. Around 2018, Tania had started working at a club in Stuart, Florida, and lived a normal and regular life like anyone else.
In late 2017 or early 2018, Tania found out that she was going to have another baby. She was ecstatic and decided to name the child Josiah as she awaited expanding her family. On August 24, her remains were found along Russo Road near Johnston Road in St. Lucie County, Florida. The autopsy concluded that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head and sharp force trauma to her neck. She was eight and a half months pregnant at the time and had a C-section appointment scheduled about a week after the day she was killed.
Tania Wise’s Killer Willingly Handed Over His Phone to the Police
When police started investigating her case, they came across a coworker of Tania Wise who had worked as a dancer at the same bar in Stuart, Florida. She told them about a man named Jose Antonio Soto-Escalera, who had allegedly had a sexual relationship with Tania in exchange for money. The coworker said that after Tania found out she was pregnant, she called Jose and told him. According to the coworker, Tania had asked him for money for an abortion and had allegedly threatened to tell his wife if he did not comply. She further stated that Jose had given her $500 and had become angry when Tania did not follow through with the abortion.
On August 25, 2018, police executed a search warrant on Jose’s car, which had been spotted by witnesses near the location where Tania’s remains were found. Blood was found in the car, and it tested positive for Tania’s DNA. Police also called Jose in for an interrogation, during which he claimed that he did not know Tania intimately and that only their children played together. He agreed to have his DNA tested and also handed over his phone for a search. The call logs on his phone had been deleted, but his search history remained. He had searched for terms such as “dead body in woods” and “wooded area dead body.”
CCTV footage recovered from the area where Tania’s remains were found showed a car that looked similar to Jose’s. His cellphone also pinged from the same location. When his cellphone data was retrieved, it showed that he and Tania had placed numerous calls to each other that night. Investigators believed that Jose was unhappy that Tania had not gone through with the abortion and that she had allegedly threatened to tell his wife about the affair. DNA testing confirmed that the child Tania was carrying was Jose’s.
Jose Antonio Soto-Escalera is Behind Bars in Florida Today
In September 2018, Jose Antonio Soto-Escalera was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. The case did not go to trial until September 2025, when he was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Tania Wise and their unborn child. In October 2025, he was sentenced to death. He is currently being held at the Union Correctional Institution and remains on death row. He still has several appeals available and will likely pursue them in due course.
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