A Pennsylvania man has learned his fate after he threw a baby into a pond and killed the child’s parents after the mother refused to leave her husband for him.
Jose Luis Rodriguez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in connection to the deaths of Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, her husband, Junior Cabrera-Colon, and their 1-year-old son, Jeyden.
The crime spree began when Rodriguez, 61, picked up Peguero-Mancebo and her son in his car in September 2025. Police said that Rodriguez, who was in a relationship with Peguero-Mancebo at the time and even cosigned her apartment lease, then shot her “because she did not want to leave her husband,” according to Law & Crime.
Rodriguez got rid of Peguero-Mancebo’s body before he drove Jeyden to an area in Ontelaunee Township and threw the baby into the pond. Police said that an autopsy showed that mud was present in the boy’s lungs, which indicated he was “alive at the time of submersion.”
“I don’t think we can express in words the tragedy and the horrific circumstances of that child’s death,” Berks County District Attorney John Adams said at Rodriguez’s sentencing, according to WFMZ. “That child was thrown into an algae laden pond and left there to die.”
Adams added that there’s “no punishment that could ever equalize the pain he has caused. 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.”
Rodriguez reportedly told investigators that he chose to not drop Jeyden off at a hospital or police station “for fear of getting caught.”
One day after he threw the boy into the pond, Rodriguez got into an altercation with Cabrera-Colon and he fatally shot him. Cabrera-Colon’s body was later found in a wooded area in Baer Park.
Rodriguez was arrested and charged with three counts of murder on September 19, 2025.
After Rodriguez pleaded guilty, Peguero-Mancebo’s cousin, Heinel Medrano, spoke to WFMZ about the tragedy. “Everyone thought he was helping us until we found out a few days later that it was him,” Medrano said about Rodriguez’s initial help in solving the murders.
Medrano added that the “baby got the worst of it.”
“We’re grateful because it’s not a relief, but the closing of a chapter,” Medrano added of the outcome of the trial. “Breathing the same air as him was so difficult.”
Following the family’s deaths, their loved ones set up a GoFundMe to help raise money to have Peguero-Mancebo and Cabrera-Colon’s bodies returned to their native Dominican Republic. The fundraiser page explained that they shared three other children that are 8, 10 and 13 years old.
