Twin baby boys' cause of death revealed 2 years after being found behind Bronx building

CeFaan Kim Image
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Bronx infants' cause of death revealed 2 years after tragic discovery
Police told Eyewitness News reporter CeFaan Kim that the two infant boys were identical twins and that their cause of death was a homicide.

BRONX, New York (WABC) -- New details have been revealed in the mysterious cold case of two baby boys that were found dead behind a building in the Bronx two years ago on Wednesday.

Police told Eyewitness News reporter CeFaan Kim that the two infant boys were identical twins and that their cause of death was a homicide.

On Thursday, the NYC chief medical examiner said the two infants were killed with blunt force trauma to the head, and one of them had trauma to the torso.

No one has been arrested for their murders and there's still no closure.

"Sadness. There's so many different ways you can go around it," resident Vanessa Vasquez said.

One of the babies was found on a wee wee pad and the other in a black garbage bag under the AC unit.

The police department adopted the twins in a way and named them Zeke and Zane.

One of their names means god's gift and the other means god's strength.

"People would refer to them as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 but we knew that they were something special," Detective Brianna Constantino said. "This was something that the 44 precinct along with Bronx homicide, we promised to see this through. Giving them names helps the community mourn because we mourn with the community," Brianna Constantino said.

Detectives have tracked down every tip but have come up empty.

"Normally when we deal with a homicide we have the family, we have the victims, we help them. We get the babies buried. In this case the crime victims people, we got the babies buried, we got them a plot, we had a funeral for them but we still don't have leads on who, on how they ended up back here. Where's their mother?" Lt. Sean O'Toole of the NYPD Bronx Homicide Squad said.

A camera at the scene was scheduled to be installed a week after the horrific discovery.

Investigators canvassed for several blocks, but no cameras captured a woman carrying two babies walking back there.

A DNA profile was recovered from the garbage bag.

It comes back to a female who investigators believe is the mother, but that profile is not in any database.

Investigators are now pleading for help.

"Think about the babies. They'd be two years old today. Give us a call. You know something, if there's somebody who's out there who felt something, something we should follow up on, call us," O'Toole said.

New York is a safe haven state and has safe haven laws.

"If you have a child that you are unable to care for you can drop that child off at a police department, a police station, at a firehouse, at an emergency room. The child will be cared for," said Adrienne Giunta of the Bronx DA Special Victims Division.

MORE NEWS: New MOMA exhibit recognizes JAM, a 1980s Black art gallery that contributed to the NYC art scene

Half a century after this art was created and shown, it is finally getting recognition at MOMA in a new exhibit, Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces. Sandy Kenyon has the story.

----------

* More Bronx news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube