Mother linked by DNA, arrested in gruesome deaths of twin newborns 5 years ago in Bronx: police
CLAREMONT, Bronx (WABC) -- Almost five years after a gruesome discovery of two dead newborns in the Bronx, the NYPD has arrested a woman in the murder of the children who were found, umbilical cords still attached, outside an apartment building.
The woman, police say, was the mother of the children, and was linked to the deaths by DNA. She used to live with her parents in the same building where the children were found dead, and was not noticably pregnant at the time of the deaths, police said.
Her parents, who never knew their daughter was pregnant, still live in the building and have attended a vigil in honor of the children that is held every year, children that turned out to be their grandchildren.
On Friday, police announced they took their mother, Stephanie Castillo, into custody. The mother is believed to have killed the children and dropped them out a window on Nov. 9, 2020.
The 36-year-old woman is charged with murder and manslaughter. She was picked up Friday morning after leaving a homeless shelter in the Bronx.
She was recently linked by DNA to the infants. Detectives then learned she had been living in the building with her parents at the time of death but she moved out shortly after.
At the time, detectives were stumped by a lack of witnesses. And surveillance cameras weren't functioning, so there was no video.
Neighbors were shaken by the news at the time.
"My heart, my heart is really hurting, really hurting right now," Michele Frasier said.
Police did not give up on the case for five years and held a vigil every year at the scene at 1460 College Ave., appealing to the public for more information to make an arrest, which finally came on Friday.
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