"Baby Hope" Update: Conrado Juarez, cousin of slain girl, indicted in her 1991 murder
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - A man accused of killing a 4-year-old girl known for two decades only as "Baby Hope" was indicted in New York City today.
The Manhattan district attorney's office told a judge Tuesday that Conrado Juarez has been indicted on an unspecified charge. CBS New York reports he waived his appearance in court Tuesday.
The 52-year-old Juarez, of New York City, was initially arraigned on a second-degree murder charge following his Oct. 12 arrest.
The 4-year-old's body was found in a cooler alongside a Manhattan highway in 1991. Detectives nicknamed her "Baby Hope" and paid for her headstone when no one came forward to identify the little girl.
A tip this summer led investigators to her name -- Anjelica Castillo -- and then to the arrest of Juarez, who has been identified as the child's cousin.
Police say he confessed to sexually abusing and suffocating Anjelica. He later told newspapers his confession was coerced and that the child died accidentally and he only helped dispose of her body.
Juarez's next court date is scheduled for Nov. 21.