‘Baby Hope’s’ Mom ‘Devastated’

Daughter was killed and left in cooler 22 years ago

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The mother of the murdered toddler previously known as “Baby Hope” spoke out for the first time Monday against the cousin who is accused of raping and then killing her daughter over 22 years ago.

“Baby Hope” was just recently identified as Anjelica Castillo, years after her body was left in a cooler on the side of a New York City highway. Her mother, Margarita Castillo, said she was “devastated” to learn what happened to her daughter, the New York Daily News reports. 

“You can’t even describe a punishment,” Castillo told reporters through the door of her Queens apartment. “You won’t understand the pain. We are just waiting for justice. We are not going to have peace.”

Lorena Castillo, an older sister of Anjelica’s and a mother of three herself, said “only a monster would do this.”

Conrado Juarez is accused of raping and then smothering Anjelica before dumping her body in a cooler and leaving it next to the Henry Hudson Parkway in 1991. Police said Saturday that Juarez had confessed to killing the girl after he was arrested at the Manhattan restaurant where he worked. Juarez’s lawyer, Michael Croce, said the confession was elicited after a 14 hour interrogation, and that his client was “confused and pretty much in shock.”
[New York Daily News]