Reading woman arrested in connection with 2-year-old’s murder in 1990s cold case

READING, Pa. (WPHL) — Berks County Detectives took a Reading woman into custody in connection with a cold case murder of a 2-year-old boy from more than 30 years ago, officials announced on Wednesday.

Sandra Guadalupe-Castro, 57, the girlfriend of the victim’s father, has been charged with first and third-degree murder. At the time of his death, the victim was living with Guadalupe-Castro and his father.

According to the Berks County District Attorney’s Office, on January 8, 1993, a 2-year-old boy was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital from a home on the 1000 block of Franklin Street in Reading. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The death was ruled a homicide after the initial investigation determined the child suffered from multiple blunt impact injuries to the head. The boy also had multiple bruises at various stages of healing.

After numerous interviews, police were not able to make any arrests at the time. The case was reopened in 2025, under Berks County District Attorney John Adams’ Cold Case Initiative. The Reading Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit and Berks County Detectives reopened and jointly reviewed the case.

Once investigators re-interviewed numerous people and re-examined medical records and forensic findings, they were able to narrow down the timeline in the case. This led to investigators determining that the boy was in the “sole care and supervision” of Guadalupe-Castro the day he died.

Guadalupe-Castro was arrested and charged on Tuesday and remains in Berks County Prison after being denied bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 17.