Family Wants Feds to Probe Riverside Deputy Fatal Shooting of Jesus Castillo: Witnesses say Police Shot Unarmed Latino Man in the Back from 15 feet away

In photo, Jesus Castillo, father of the late Jesus Castillo, holds a picture of his son during a family a candlelight vigil at Moreno Valley Community Park on July 6, 2012. The family is protesting the shooting of Castillo, 31, by a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy July 1.  From [HERE] The attorney for a Moreno Valley family has asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate the shooting death of family member Jesus Castillo by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.

Luis A. Carrillo wrote in a letter to Andre Birotte Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, that witnesses his investigator interviewed contradicted the Sheriff’s Department’s account of the July 1 fight at Moreno Valley Community Park between Castillo and a sheriff’s deputy and the subsequent shooting.

Deputies originally went to the park to investigate a report of a man harassing children near a bathroom. Castillo believes his son was at the park to play soccer. Castillo spoke with the deputy, lifted his shirt to show he didn’t have a weapon and then walked toward a parking lot. The deputy lunged toward Castillo and pulled him to the ground. As they wrestled, the deputy put Castillo in a chokehold. Castillo freed himself and ripped “a speaker” from the deputy’s lapel. Castillo walked away toward a parking lot. The deputy fired three times from 15 feet, twice hitting Castillo in the back. Other deputies arrived, hitting and kicking the fallen Castillo in the face.

One witness, Ronald Carcamo, 31, of Moreno Valley, said that Castillo knocked down the deputy, they struggled, and then the man walked away. Then the deputy pulled a gun and shot the man, who was 15 to 20 feet away, Carcamo said.

Another witness, Raymundo Luis, 56, of Perris, said the deputy checked the man’s bag and identification. They argued, and then started fighting. He said the deputy pulled a gun and fired four or five times. [MORE] 

“The statements of the witnesses put into question the actions of the deputy involved; raise questions as to whether this was an unnecessary killing of an unarmed man; and also raise concerns regarding the veracity of the official version given to the public by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department,” Carrillo wrote in the Aug. 30 letter. Sheriff’s Deputy Albert Martinez said Thursday, Sept. 20, that the department stands by its original statement that Deputy Fred Martinez was justified in shooting Castillo, 31.

The Sheriff’s Department gave this account:

As the deputy questioned Castillo, Castillo turned and struck the deputy several times in the face and threw the deputy to the ground. Castillo wrapped his legs around the deputy’s lower body and began choking the deputy. Castillo then tried to remove the deputy’s gun from its holster. The deputy freed himself from the headlock and pushed Castillo away. Castillo then turned toward the deputy, who then fired.

Castillo’s uncle, Juan Jara, wrote in an email that the family plans to speak about the shooting at the Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 25. The family has protested the shooting and held vigils at locations in Moreno Valley.

Riverside County district attorney’s office spokesman John Hall said his office has not yet received the Sheriff’s Department’s report.

Castillo had scuffled with Riverside police officers only months earlier.