READING, Pa. – Charges have been filed in the case of a murdered mother and her child whose bodies were found in a remote section of Ontelaunee Township last week. 

At a news conference held this afternoon, Berks County District Attorney John Adams announced that 61-year-old Jose Rodriguez is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo and her one-year-old son, Jeyden Junior Peguero.

Adams says Rodriguez was already in custody at Berks County Jail since September 19 for the murder of Junior Cabrera-Colon, who was Peguero-Mancebo’s husband.  

On the evening of Friday, September 19, Peguero-Mancebo’s body was discovered in a grassy field off of East Huller Lane in Ontelaunee Township. Adams says investigators were able to track her to the location by her cell phone. 

Members of the Berks County Detectives, the Reading City Police Department, the Berks County Forensic Services Unit and the Northern Berks Regional Police Department responded to the scene to begin a death investigation.

Investigators say the then unidentified female appeared to be the victim of foul play, and based upon several descriptors, police suspected she was Peguero-Mancebo, a person previously reported to Reading Police who had gone missing with her one-year-old son.

Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, Junior Cabrera-Colon and Jeyden Junior Peguero

Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, Junior Cabrera-Colon and Jeyden Junior Peguero.

Berks County District Attorney’s Office

On Saturday, September 20, the body of Jeyden Junior Peguero was found in a marshy area approximately 150 yards west of where his mother’s body was located the previous day.

Autopsies were performed on both victims at Reading Hospital and postmortem examinations ruled both deaths homicides. 

Through the investigation, detectives determined Rodriguez drove Peguero-Mancebo to Huller Lane with the intention of killing her. He allegedly shot her in the back of the head at the location before disposing of her body.  

Adams says the suspect then took one-year-old Jeyden down the road and threw the boy into a nearby pond. The district attorney says the child was still alive when he was thrown into the water and died as a result of freshwater drowning. 

Reading Police discovered the body of Junior Cabrera-Colon in the brush along River Road on the morning of September 13. Though his body was the first discovered, Adams says Cabrera-Colon was actually the third victim killed. Cabrera-Colon died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Jose Rodriguez was charged with Cabrera-Colon’s murder. The suspect allegedly told police he acted in self-defense. 

Adams, who was visibly emotional during the news conference, says his office is considering filing a notice to seek the death penalty in the case, although no decision has been made yet. 

Rodriguez is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and related offenses and is being held without bail. 

Adams says the investigation is ongoing.Â