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A kitchen worker from Mexico who was accused of committing one of New York City’s most chilling child murders — the 1991 killing of “Baby Hope” — died in custody on Sunday, officials said.

The man, Conrado Juárez, was scheduled to go on trial in March for the murder of 4-year-old Anjélica Castillo, whose small naked body was found stuffed in a picnic cooler that had been left in a wooded area off the Henry Hudson Parkway in Upper Manhattan in 1991.

Mr. Juarez had been awaiting trial for five years. In 2015, he was transferred from Rikers Island to Rockland County Correctional Facility for his own safety. He died early Sunday morning at Montefiore Nyack Hospital following complications related to pancreatic cancer, an official and a second person familiar with the matter said.

Janine Kava, a spokeswoman for the State Commission of Correction, confirmed Mr. Juarez had died. She said the commission was investigating the death.