Image courtesy of the Citizens’ App
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Wednesday, Sept. 10, that a Bronx mother, who was arrested in July, has been indicted for first-degree murder and other related charges for killing her newborn twin sons, who were found among garbage bags in an alley outside her building in 2020.
“This defendant is accused of an unthinkable, unimaginable crime, the murder of her own children shortly after they were born,” Clark said. “This crime shocked the city, and while it may have faded from the headlines over the years, investigators never stopped trying to find the twins’ killer. The process of attaining justice for these two innocent lives has now begun.”
Clark said the defendant, Stephanie Castillo, 36, of Jerome Avenue in Morris Heights, The Bronx, was arraigned on Wednesday on first-degree murder, four counts of second-degree murder, four counts of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree manslaughter before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Alvin Yearwood. She said she continues to be held in custody and is due back in court in December.
According to the investigation, and as reported, on Nov. 9, 2020, at about 1 p.m. the building superintendent of 1460 College Avenue in Claremont found what appeared to be the body of an infant in an alleyway. First responders found the body of a second infant inside a black garbage bag. They were full-term newborn boys. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) determined they were born alive. The cause of death for the first infant was blunt force trauma to the head and torso, and the cause of death for the second infant was blunt force trauma to the head.
Clark said an exhaustive investigation by the NYPD Bronx Homicide Squad and the Bronx DA’s Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau identified the defendant as a suspect and she was arrested in July. Clark said she lived in a fourth-floor apartment at 1460 College Avenue at the time of the incident. Forensic science led NYPD to identify the defendant as a candidate subject.
As reported, NYPD Lt. Grimpel told the Norwood News on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021 that detectives were at that point still trying to solve the double homicide and police had named the twins Ezekiel and Zain.
In February 2024, as reported, the Yonkers Police Department arrested and charged another mother in an abandoned newborn investigation. In April 2024, a mom of 5-year-old twins, found smothered inside an East 175th Street Building in the Mt. Hope section of The Bronx, was arrested and charged in connection with their deaths.
In 2007, a Bronx mom pleaded guilty in her son’s death by beating in a Kossuth Avenue home. A two-month-old baby was found safe in October 2023 after a mother left the location of a supervised visit with the child.
In May 2021, the New York City Council introduced legislation aimed at supporting mothers and caregivers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in honor of Mother’s Day. The following year, a maternal health package described as “historic” was passed to help address racial disparities in maternal health, mortality, and morbidity.
Source: State Sen. Gustavo Rivera
In September 2024, Montefiore Einstein received a $5.4M HRSA grant to enhance medical care and social support for Bronx moms and babies.
State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) released a statement in recent months on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announcement to discontinue enrollment for children covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Following the passage of the federal reconciliation bill depriving people of healthcare coverage, defunding healthcare institutions and programs, and making states responsible for a larger share of their healthcare spending, he joined Congressman Ro Khanna of California and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts as they announced the introduction of their State-Based Universal Health Care Act (SBUHCA), which they said would allow states that have passed legislation creating a state-based, universal healthcare program to go into effect without federal red tape.
The senator, who chairs the state health committee, has long advocated for the passage of the New York Health Act (universal healthcare in New York State), and said he believes that this is the right time for the nationwide piece of legislation, which he said will support the implementation of the New York Health Act (S3425). The latter would create a single-payer plan for New York residents and employees.
“I’m proud to stand with my colleagues in D.C. who have introduced a brilliant bill to enable states to establish universal healthcare systems with support from the federal government,” Rivera said. “I assure my fellow New Yorkers that we could establish a single payer system through the NY Health Act without a federal waiver, but the State-Based Universal Health Care Act would make that process far more seamless and ultimately, make healthcare more accessible and affordable and fix our broken healthcare system.”
Source: State Sen. Gustavo Rivera
The case is being prosecuted by Mimi Mairs, chief of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Rachael Baughman of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau under the overall supervision of Adrienne Giunta, deputy chief, Special Victims Division and Joseph Muroff, Chief, Special Victims Division.
Clark thanked Trial Preparation Assistant Supervisor Elaina Clarke of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau and David Slott, chief of the Bronx DA’s Forensic Science Unit, for their assistance with the case. She also thanked NYPD Detective Brianna Constantino and her colleagues on the NYPD Bronx Homicide Task Force for what she said was their significant work in the investigation.
Additionally, the district attorney thanked Linda Doyle of the NYPD Forensic Investigations Division, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Forensic Biology Department, and Special Agent Dianna Oglio of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for her assistance in the case.
Castillo is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.
Source: NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
Read our recent health check for mental health support here.
New York’s Safe Haven Law allows parents to safely surrender a newborn up to 30 days old at designated locations — no questions asked. These include hospitals, fire stations, and police precincts. If you or someone you know needs help, call the Safe Haven hotline at 1-877-796-HOPE or visit nysafebaby.org for resources.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
All calls are strictly confidential.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.