PENNSYLVANIA — José Rodríguez, 61, was sentenced to three life terms after accepting a guilty plea agreement for the September killings of a Dominican family in Reading.
Rodríguez admitted before Judge Benjamin Nevius that on the night of September 12 he picked up Geraldina Peguero Mancebo and her one-year-old son, Jayden Peguero, on the 100 block of North 5th Street and drove them to East Huller Lane in Ontelaunee Township, Berks County, where he shot the woman in the back and drowned the child in a nearby pond within a wooded area.
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Later that same night, Rodríguez fatally shot the victim’s husband, Junior Cabrera Colón, in the head at a residence on the 1500 block of Pear Street in Reading. Authorities determined that all three killings were premeditated and carried out “with malice.”
The investigation indicates that Rodríguez acted after Peguero Mancebo refused to leave her husband to be with him. On September 13, police found Cabrera Colón’s body in a wooded area near Baer Park.
Rodríguez was arrested on September 18 after surveillance footage placed his vehicle in the area. During an initial interrogation, he confessed to the killing, claiming self-defense, a version that has not been confirmed by investigators.
Peguero Mancebo’s body was discovered on September 19 in Ontelaunee, and her son’s body was found the following day about 150 meters away, partially submerged in mud and water. The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
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