Chilling Confession: Man Throws Baby into Pond After Murdering Parents – A Case That Shook the Nation

A man from Pennsylvania has confessed to the tragic act of throwing a 1-year-old boy into a pond, resulting in the child’s death. This came after he had already taken the life of the boy’s mother, claiming she refused to leave her husband for him. The following day, he also killed her husband. Afterwards, he allegedly reached out to the mother’s family, posing as a concerned friend.

“Everyone believed he was assisting us until we discovered he was the culprit,” shared Heinel Medrano, the cousin of Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, the murdered mother. Geraldina, her husband Junior Cabrera-Colon, and their son Jeyden were all killed in September 2025. Medrano spoke to local TV station WFMZ after the sentencing of their murderer, Jose Luis Rodriguez, on Tuesday.

“The baby suffered the most,” Medrano commented.

Jose Luis Rodriguez, aged 61, pled guilty to first-degree murder and received a sentence of three consecutive life terms without parole.

“We’re thankful because, while it’s not a relief, it does mark the end of a chapter,” Medrano expressed to WFMZ. “Being in the same world as him was incredibly difficult.”

As previously reported by Law&Crime, prosecutors and police accused Rodriguez of shooting Peguero-Mancebo in the head first “because she did not want to leave her husband.” The mother and her son were picked up by Rodriguez, who was in a relationship with Peguero-Mancebo and also cosigned her apartment lease, before the slaying occurred inside his car.

Rodriguez dumped Peguero-Mancebo’s body and then drove Jeyden to an area in Ontelaunee Township, where he threw the boy into the pond. An autopsy showed that mud was present in the boy’s lungs, indicating that he was “alive at the time of submersion,” according to police.

“I don’t think we can express in words the tragedy and the horrific circumstances of that child’s death,” said Berks County District Attorney John Adams at Rodriguez’s sentencing, according to WFMZ. “That child was thrown into an algae laden pond and left there to die,” Adams said.

Rodriguez told investigators he decided against dropping Jeyden off at a hospital or police station “for fear of getting caught.” After throwing the boy into the pond, Rodriguez got into an altercation with Cabrera-Colon a day later in Reading and shot him to death. His body was found in a wooded area near some basketball courts in Baer Park.

Police arrested and charged Rodriguez with three counts of murder on Sept. 19, 2025. He directed investigators to the 9 mm handgun he used in the killings, which he had stashed at someone else’s home under their porch.

A GoFundMe page, which was launched last year to raise money to have Peguero-Mancebo and Cabrera-Colon’s bodies returned to their native Dominican Republic, said the couple also shared three other children, ages 8, 10, and 13 years old.

“There’s no punishment that could ever equalize the pain he has caused,” Adams told the court Tuesday about Rodriguez. “He will never see the light of day and hopefully, this will bring some closure to the family and to anyone who knew any of the victims.”