A funeral service will be held this afternoon for the Kissimmee mother killed in what deputies say was a botched murder-for-hire plot.

The family of Janice Zengotita-Torres made a brief public statement before Friday’s private service in Kissimmee, and they say they want “appropriate penalties” for the three people charged with her murder.  

“She had excellent qualities, loved by everyone,” said Janice’s sister, Josselle Marie Zengotita-Torres. “Janice’s humbleness won her many friendships that today suffer the loss. We have the certainty that Janice will dwell with the Lord and will always be in our hearts.”

Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said Zengotita-Torres was abducted, then murdered, after leaving work Jan. 8. Gibson said in a bizarre and heinous twist, Zangotita-Torres was mistaken for a coworker who was the actual target of a murder-for-hire.

Investigators say Ishnar Ramos hired Alexis Ramos Rivera and his girlfriend, Glorianmarie Montes, to carry out the murder. The motive, Gibson said, may have been sparked by Ramos’ romantic interest in the intended target’s partner.

Ramos, Rivera and Montes are all being held without bond on murder charges.

Major Jacob Ruiz of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that it will likely be several more weeks before the investigation is completed, and more details can be released.

On the night of their arrests, Gibson described the killing as one of the most heinous crimes he’s seen.

“I get emotional, because it just touches me so deeply that one of our citizens was killed in such a manner over a mistaken identity, and in the end, it appears to be a lovers’ triangle,” Gibson said.

Deputies say Rivera and Montes followed Zengotita-Torres home from her job at a Ross store in Kissimmee. When they arrived at Zengotita-Torres’ home, deputies say Rivera and Montes kidnapped Zengotita-Torres and took her car.

It wasn’t until the trio used an ATM card belonging to Zengotita-Torres to withdraw money from a bank that Gibson said they realized they had kidnapped the wrong person.

Despite that, Gibson said the three decided to kill her anyway. They tied Zengotita-Torres's hands with zip ties, duct-taped a trash bag over her head, beat her, then dumped her body in Ormond Beach, deputies say. Zengotita-Torres died of suffocation.

Gibson said from the night of her initial kidnapping until Thursday, the trio continued to use Zengotita-Torres' ATM card to withdraw cash. Deputies took Ramos into custody at an ATM, and based on her confession, picked up Rivera and Montes, deputies said.

"All three confirmed that this was a murder for hire, and that the victim was mistakenly targeted and murdered," Gibson said.

The Sheriff's Office said all three charged in the killing arrived in Central Florida from Puerto Rico on Dec. 26, 2017. It is still unclear how they know each other, how the killing was arranged or for how much.

Zengotita-Torres’ family expressed appreciation Friday to the public and to the sheriff’s office for their efforts in the investigation.

“Our family believes in the criminal justice system from the State of Florida, and we are confident that justice will be served,” Josselle Marie Zengotita-Torres said. “We ask the authorities that the appropriate penalties and sentences be given to those responsible for the death of Janice, according to the acts committed.”