Conrado Juarez, 52, is arraigned Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, at Manhattan Criminal Court for the alleged murder of 4-year-old Anjelica Castillo, nicknamed "Baby Hope", in New York. Castillo's body was discovered inside a picnic cooler beside a Manhattan highway in 1991, resulting in a decades old investigation that led to Juarez's arrest and admission that he sexually assaulted and smothered her.
Image Credit: AP Photo/John Minchillo
October 13, 2013 - 7:32 PM
NEW YORK - Police on Saturday announced that, after an investigation lasting more than two decades, they have arrested the killer of a child nicknamed 'Baby Hope' by detectives after her body was discovered inside a picnic cooler beside a Manhattan highway in 1991.
During an interrogation early Saturday, the four-yearold girl's cousin, Conrado Juarez, had admitted sexually assaulting and smothering her, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
The child's name and the circumstances of her death had been a mystery for two decades. But earlier this week, police said that a new tip and a DNA test had allowed them to finally identify the baby's mother, a dramatic turnaround in one of the city's more notorious cold cases. Now they are also revealing the slain girl's name: Anjelica Castillo.
It wasn't clear whether Juarez, 52, had a lawyer. Police said he lived in the Bronx, but that the family had been living in the borough of Queens at the time of the killing. They also said Juarez claimed that a relative helped him dispose of the child's body.
Anjelica's naked, malnourished corpse was discovered on July 23, 1991, beside the Henry Hudson Parkway. Detectives thought she might have been suffocated but had few other clues as to what happened.
The case became an obsession for some investigators. Hundreds of people attended a funeral for the unknown girl in 1993. Her body was exhumed for DNA testing in 2007 and again in 2011.
Circumstances that led to the death of 'Baby Hope' had been a mystery for 22 years.
Image Credit: The Associated Press Files
In July, detectives tried another round of publicity on the 22nd anniversary of the discovery. They canvassed the neighbourhood where her body was found, hung flyers, circulated sketches of the girl and a photograph of the cooler and announced a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Former detective Jerry Giorgio, who had the case from 1991 until his retirement over the summer, said he remained confident the case could be solved.
Former NYPD detective Jerry Giorgio smiles alongside Commissioner Ray Kelly, right.
Image Credit: AP Photo/John Minchillo
Video Credit: CNN/YouTube
News from © The Associated Press, 2013