A 24-year-old Michigan man was arraigned in a Grand Rapids district court last Monday on four felony charges after breaking into a home and stabbing an 11-year-old girl.
According to court records, Ricardo Perez Castillo, a 24-year-old recruiter with the US Marine Corps, broke into a home in nearby Rockford at about 3:00 a.m. on June 15 with the intent of murdering the family who lived there.
Security footage from inside the property showed Castillo entering the house and stripping down to his T-shirt and underwear before grabbing a knife from a drawer in the kitchen and walking upstairs.
After opening the door to the master bedroom where the homeowners were asleep, Castillo went in search of “an easier target,” court records said. He then entered the room of the couple’s 11-year-old daughter who was having a sleepover with a friend. Castillo removed his underwear, climbed on top of the sleeping 11-year-old, and began stabbing her.
The girl’s screams woke up her parents in the master bedroom.
A short time later, 911 dispatch received a call from the homeowner who said he was holding a man at gunpoint who had attacked his daughter.
When responding deputies from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene, they found Castillo with the bloody knife beside him being held in the bedroom.
The 11-year-old was rushed to the hospital with multiple stab wounds on her arm and shoulder.
Castillo later told deputies that he didn’t know the family but said he intended to kill them all. He also admitted that he planned to rape the girl after he stabbed her to death.
Castillo was charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit criminal rape, possession of a weapon with criminal intent, and first-degree home invasion.
Castillo is being held on a $2 million cash bond. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for July 3.
Castillo was also arraigned on a charge of misdemeanor illegal entry for a separate incident in which he allegedly broke into another home in Rockford earlier that day.
