Man Convicted of 'Cold Case' Murder of Hartford Teenager

A Hartford Superior Court jury found Pedro Miranda guilty of the murder of a Hartford teenager, whose body was found in a wooded area in East Windsor in 1987.

Miranda, who is already serving a life sentence for the murder of another teenager, will be sentenced April 30 when he faces a maximum term of 60 years in prison, according to a press release.

Miranda, 57, is already serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release plus 100 years for his conviction in the murder of 17-year-old Carmen Lopez, who was found strangled on January 5, 1988, in an apartment on Nelton Court in Hartford.

Miranda was convicted Thursday for the death of Mayra Cruz, whose body was found in a wooded area of East Windsor on Nov. 8, 1987.

Cruz, 13, was reported missing when she did not return home from school in Hartford on Oct. 8, 1987.

Miranda is awaiting trial in Hartford Superior Court on one count of murder stemming from the disappearance of Rosa Valentin, 16, who was last seen alive in Miranda’s car on July 26, 1986. Her body has never been found and she is presumed dead.

The cases were investigated by the Cold Case Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Unit, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Forensic Science Laboratory, Department of Correction and the Hartford and Bloomfield police departments.

The cases were prosecuted by the Office of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Hartford.