Alex Mercado 4, msg 10/30/09 Firebaugh, CA (Found Deceased) 14 yr old arrested

[Nut44x4]

'He's a good boy,' says mother of suspect in Mendota 4-year-old's killing

Updated: 11/04/2009 10:19:19 AM PST

Prosecutors will charge a 14-year-old boy as an adult today in Fresno County Superior Court in the slaying of 4-year-old Alex Christopher Mercado of Mendota.

But Raul Renato Castro's mother said justice won't be served by prosecuting him as an adult.

"I'll never understand why he did it," Elsa Castro said in a telephone interview Tuesday evening. "He's a good boy who has never been in trouble."

Elsa Castro said she hasn't slept or eaten well since Alex was discovered dead in the dryer of her home Saturday. "It's like one big nightmare," she said.

She said it also hurts her to know that the Mendota community has turned against her and her son, painting him as weird.

"He's never hurt anyone," she said. "He's a good, intelligent boy who was raised right. All I can say is that I did my best."

She said her son was doing well in eighth grade, earnings B's and C's.

Today, Raul Castro faces charges of first-degree murder and four special allegations associated with that charge — that it was committed along with child molestation, sodomy, kidnapping and in order to silence a witness. Castro also faces separate felony charges of kidnapping, sodomy and child molestation.

He is being held at the county Juvenile Justice Campus south of Fresno.

Elsa Castro, a single mother, said she plans to be at her son's arraignment. She said she feels sorry for Alex's family, "but I lost a son, too."

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, District Attorney Elizabeth A. Egan announced that her department was charging Castro as an adult, using a California law that gives prosecutors the discretion to try offenders as young as 14 as adults.

Egan's office used the law in the case of 15-year-old Bethany Clark of Fresno. Prosecutors say she lured her friend to a remote area, where he was carjacked and killed.

Clark was charged with murder in connection with Carlos Gonzalez's death in February 2007. In July this year, Clark was sentenced to nine years in prison after she pleaded guilty to carjacking and testified against the two men who killed Gonzalez. The two men were convicted.

Under the law, a youth offender cannot face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, said Egan's spokeswoman, Sonia De La Rosa.

If convicted, Castro could face up to 47 years to life in prison, De La Rosa said.

Alex was playing outside his Tuft Street home in northwest Mendota on Friday when the 14-year-old lured him into his home next door, Sheriff Margaret Mims has said.

The next day, officials from the FBI and the Sheriff's Office searched the teen's home and discovered Alex's body in the dryer, Mims said. The body was put in the dryer after he was drowned, Mims said. But the sheriff has not specified how or where Alex was drowned or why he was killed.

Elsa Castro said she was home when detectives arrived. She said she didn't know how or where Alex was killed. She declined to say whether she saw Alex's body because she didn't want to relive the experience.

But she said, "I just screamed at what I saw. No one will ever understand how I feel about what happened."

She said she and her son have cooperated with the investigation and talked to detectives separately.

Mims has said the mother apparently was not involved in the crime and doesn't face charges.

Elsa Castro said she is depending on her only other child — whom she identified as "an adult teen" son — to support her through the ordeal.

Matt Flood, a friend who is acting as spokesman for Alex's family, said news of the charges put the family in "a state of shock." But the family is coping with the child's death by thinking "positive thoughts," because dwelling on the crime breeds hatred, he said.

"The detectives and prosecutors are all seasoned veterans who know what they are doing," Flood said. "The family is depending on them to carry out justice."
http://**/breaking-news/ci_13711774?nclick_check=1

[Nut44x4]

Affidavit: Teen says he killed boy found in dryer
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
November 04, 2009 4:45 PM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MENDOTA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say in court documents that a teenager charged with murder confessed to killing a 4-year-old boy because the child was going to reveal the teen molested him.

Fresno County prosecutors have charged 14-year-old Raul Castro as an adult. His arraignment hearing was postponed Wednesday.

The affidavit was filed by sheriff's Detective Sergio Toscano to get an arrest warrant.

It says Castro lured Alex Mercado into a bathroom and molested him. When Alex threatened to tell his mother, Castro said he held him under water in a bathtub until he died then hid the body in a clothes dryer, the affidavit states.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/mendota-104620-affidavit-says.html

[cookie]

Affidavit: Teen says he killed boy found in dryer
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
November 04, 2009 4:45 PM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MENDOTA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say in court documents that a teenager charged with murder confessed to killing a 4-year-old boy because the child was going to reveal the teen molested him.

Fresno County prosecutors have charged 14-year-old Raul Castro as an adult. His arraignment hearing was postponed Wednesday.

The affidavit was filed by sheriff's Detective Sergio Toscano to get an arrest warrant.

It says Castro lured Alex Mercado into a bathroom and molested him. When Alex threatened to tell his mother, Castro said he held him under water in a bathtub until he died then hid the body in a clothes dryer, the affidavit states.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/mendota-104620-affidavit-says.html

ummm.....if Castro's mother was babysitting little Alex...where was she when this was going on??? would she not have heard the water running from the bathtub? and to molest him, drown him and put him in a clothes dryer, all without the babysitter (Castro's mom) anywhere around? scary....

[Nut44x4]

November 6, 2009 6:30 AM
Court Docs: Teen Molested 4-Year-Old Alex Mercado, Then Drowned Him, Stuffed Body in Dryer

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Raul Renato Castro, the 14-year-old boy who is now charged with drowning his 4-year-old neighbor in a bathtub, told authorities that he did it to keep little Alex Mercado from revealing the teen had molested him, according to an affidavit released in court Wednesday.

Castro, dressed in a jail-issued purple shirt and guarded by five bailiffs and two officers outfitted in paramilitary gear, appeared emotionless and stared at his hands as he nodded when Judge Jon Kapetan asked him if he understood the proceedings. Bail was set at $2.1 million.

According to the affidavit, Castro, a student at Mendota Junior High School, initially told police he knew nothing of the boy's disappearance and that when investigators told him that Alex's body had been found in Castro's house in the dryer, the teen suggested someone had broken into the house and put him there.

Castro eventually told police he had enticed the dimpled, brown-eyed boy into his house across the street and sodomized him, the affidavit states. He told police he killed Mercado after the child fell and hit his head, started crying, then threatened to tell his mother, the document states.

"Castro said he panicked and decided to kill the victim by drowning him in the bathtub," the affidavit says. The teen, who is 5-feet tall and weighs 170 pounds, then put Mercado's body over his shoulder and carried him to the dryer, hoping everything "would go away."

Kathy Marousek, Castro's acting public defender told the Associated Press after the hearing Wednesday that she doubted the teenager understood the Miranda Rights read to him by investigators, which could put his confession in doubt.

"He told me he was scared," said Marousek, who spoke with the teen as he sat in the jury box. "He could be in shock."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/05/crimesider/entry5539046.shtml

[cookie]

 

[Leroy]

Report: Teen admits to slaying Mendota toddler
Suspect, 14, says he killed Mendota boy after molesting him.
Published online on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Fresno County prosecutors have charged Raul Castro as an adult in the case. He's scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on multiple charges, including murder and sodomy.

Details of the confession are in an affidavit filed by sheriff's detective Sergio Toscano to get an arrest warrant.

The mother of the teen accused of killing a 4-year-old neighbor found the child dead in the clothes dryer of her Mendota home, according to a Fresno County Superior Court affidavit made public Thursday.

The affidavit also says Alex Christopher Mercado disappeared last Friday afternoon while his father took a shower. Alex's siblings were supposed to be taking care of the boy, but he left home without telling anyone where he was going.

The siblings thought he was going to a friend's house down the street, the affidavit said. But the friend's family told deputies he never arrived.

When Raul Renato Castro was a baby, his father was convicted of molesting a 5-year-old relative and was sentenced to prison.

Now, 14-year-old Castro is accused of molesting 4-year-old Alex Christopher Mercado and drowning the child in a bathtub on Oct. 30.

There is no evidence that the Mendota teen was a victim of abuse, but researchers say the circumstances don't surprise them. In many cases, researchers say, a person victimized as a child becomes a perpetrator. It's a well-known cycle of abuse.

A 14-year-old with a baby face told investigators he drowned his 4-year-old neighbor in a bathtub then hid the body in a dryer because the child was going to reveal the teen molested him, according to an affidavit released when he appeared in court Wednesday.

Raul Renato Castro, dressed in a purple T-shirt issued at the juvenile jail, appeared emotionless while staring at his hands in Fresno County Superior Court.

He was guarded by five bailiffs and two officers outfitted in paramilitary gear.


A Mendota 14-year-old confessed to killing a 4-year-old neighbor because the boy was going to tell his mother the teen had molested him, according to a court affidavit made public Wednesday.

The affidavit is in the criminal case file for Raul Renato Castro, who sat in shackles and showed no emotion in his first appearance in Fresno County Superior Court, where he is being tried as an adult.

After a brief hearing, lawyers decided to delay the teen's arraignment in the murder of Alex Christopher Mercado until Tuesday.

Lawyers would not comment on the evidence, but an affidavit in support of Castro's arrest warrant describes a chilling, detailed confession in which the teen admitted he drowned Alex in a bathtub.

According to sheriff's detective Sergio Toscano's affidavit, Castro initially said he had nothing to do with the child's disappearance.

     
According to a court affidavit, 14-year-old Raul Renato Castro of Mendota, left, confessed to killing 4-year-old neighbor Alex Mercado.
 
Alex Christopher Mercado, above, was playing outside his Mendota home Friday when Raul Renato Castro, 14, allegedly lured the 4-year-old into his home next door, Sheriff Margaret Mims has said.
 
The detectives asked Castro how the boy ended up dead in the Castro family's clothes dryer.

Castro said, "Maybe someone broke into his home and put the victim in the clothes dryer," according to the affidavit.

The detectives encouraged Castro to be honest.

In the tape-recorded interview, Castro finally said he lured Alex to his Tuft Street home by telling the boy he had something to show him. He led Alex to a bathroom and told him to take off his clothes, the affidavit said.

Castro then molested the boy, Toscano wrote.

While putting on his clothes, Alex tripped and hit his head on the bathtub, Castro told Toscano. The boy started crying and said he was going to tell his mother, the affidavit said.

At that point, "Castro said he panicked and decided to kill the victim by drowning him in the bathtub," Toscano wrote.

The teen turned on the water and filled the tub just enough to cover Alex's face. He held the boy's head underwater for two to four minutes.

Castro got into the tub and held down the boy until he died, the affidavit said.

"Castro said he hoped the whole ordeal would go away," Toscano wrote.

But the next day, on Halloween, officials from the FBI and the Sheriff's Office searched the teen's home as part of a door-to-door operation and discovered Alex's body in the dryer.

The 5-foot Castro is being held in the Juvenile Justice Campus south of Fresno. His bail is more than $2 million.

A criminal complaint charges Castro as an adult with first-degree murder and four special allegations associated with that charge -- that it was committed along with child molestation, sodomy, and kidnapping, and in order to silence a witness. Castro also faces separate felony charges of kidnapping, sodomy and child molestation.

If convicted, the teen faces up to 47 years to life in prison.

Alex's killing still has people on edge in Mendota, and the new details will likely increase the tension, City Council Member Joseph Riofrio said Wednesday. "People are still hurt and shocked," he said.

But Riofrio said residents are starting to feel safe, regarding Alex's death as an isolated incident, Riofrio said.

"The good people of Mendota are coming together to help not only Alex's family, but also Elsa Castro and her family," he said, referring to the suspect's mother. "That's they way it should be."

The sheriff's spokesman, deputy Chris Curtice, said investigators have not received any information "that would lead us to believe that there are other victims."

In court, Raul Castro's eyes darted around the crowd, searching for familiar faces among the armed bailiffs and television cameras. He smiled briefly when he saw his mother, her eyes filled with tears.

Judge Jon Nick Kapetan delayed the arraignment until Tuesday after the teen's court-appointed attorney, Kathy Marousek, said she had not had a chance to review the Sheriff's Office's investigative reports.

Outside court, Elsa Castro declined to comment. But Raul Castro's grandmother, Desidora Hernandez, said, "He's a nice kid. We don't know what happened."

Elsa Castro has described herself as a single mother, and Riofrio has said the teen's father has been "out of the picture." According to a KFSN (Channel 30.1) report Wednesday evening, Raul Castro's father, Jose Antonio Castro, is a convicted sex offender who spent three years in prison.

The station reported that Elsa Castro had filed for divorce in 1996. Citing a Fresno County Superior Court complaint, the station reported that Jose Antonio Castro was convicted of molesting a Mendota boy.

Alex's family did not attend the Wednesday court hearing.

Matt Flood, a friend who is acting as spokesman for Alex's family, said the family has been busy with funeral arrangements. But they are aware of the details of Alex's death, he said.

"There's a certain sadness for this boy because of what he did," Flood said. "Alex's family feels sorry for the perpetrator and his family because in the end they will have to live with it."


http://www.fresnobee.com/local/crime/story/1697404.html?storylink=mirelated

[cookie]

very sad for both families...but especially for little Alex.

[linds1980]

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1704332.html

Family, friends say goodbye to slain Mendota boy
Published online on Monday, Nov. 09, 2009
By Chris Collins / The Fresno Bee

With his head barely visible above a church pulpit, 13-year-old James Betancourt stood in front of 300 friends, relatives and church members Monday to talk about his younger brother, Alex.

"You can never forget him," said James, sniffling and resting his head in one hand. "When we went to the beach, he would jump over the waves and we would knock him over a bit, but he would get up with a big smile."

It was a smile that many remembered. A big grin, squinted eyes, hard-to-miss dimples.

Alex Christopher Mercado's extended family gathered Monday for the 4-year-old's memorial service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kerman. The service came 10 days after authorities say he was sexually assaulted and killed by a 14-year-old neighbor in Mendota, a slaying that shocked and frightened but also galvanized the west- side community.

A rosary and visitation was held Sunday in Mendota at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church because his father, Luis Mercado, is Catholic. His mother, Mindy Betancourt, belongs to the Kerman church. The couple have been married for five years.

After the memorial service, many of the mourners gathered at Fresno Memorial Gardens to bury Alex. Some wore shirts with a picture of Alex and the words "Forever in my heart." For about an hour, friends and relatives tossed white roses and handfuls of sand on the casket as they filed past. They hugged Alex's siblings and parents.

When Alex's white casket was lowered into the ground, his parents cried openly.

Earlier at the memorial service, friends and family members told stories about Alex. They remembered the boy who used to play in the dirt so often that his mother once ran out of spoons -- they had all been used to build dirt mounds.

When his siblings would wrestle, Alex would stand on chairs and jump on his brothers.

"Some may have looked at him as being a mischievous boy, but he was just a boy who wanted to have fun," said his aunt, Valerie Betancourt.

His preschool teacher, Mercedes Martinez, said Alex took center stage whenever she turned on music.

"He loved to dance," she said. "So much so, that the kids knew that when the music started, you didn't go to the middle -- Alex did."

He also loved to sing.

"He was the best singer in the universe," said Lisa Blevins, a member of the Kerman church and a family friend. "And he would sit there and sing and sing and sing, even when there was no music."

As the mourners sang Alex's favorite hymn, "I Am a Child of God," some were moved to tears.

"His heart extended to many," Valerie Betancourt said during the memorial service. "His life was taken too soon, and all we have are the bittersweet memories."

Alex's accused killer, Raul Renato Castro, is scheduled to be arraigned today in Fresno County Superior Court. He has been charged with murder and will be tried as an adult.

[Nut44x4]

Oct trial date for Mendota teen accused of murder

The Associated Press

Updated: 03/11/2010 05:21:24 PM PST

FRESNO, Calif.—A 14-year-old Fresno County boy accused of molesting and drowning a neighbor boy will stand trial on murder charges in October.
The district attorney's office is prosecuting Raul Castro as an adult. He's being held at a juvenile facility on $2 million bail after pleading not guilty in November to charges of first-degree murder with special allegations.

On Thursday, the teenager waived his right to a speedy trial to give his lawyer time to prepare. Judge Jon Nick Kapetan agreed with the defense's motion to set a tentative trial date for Oct. 4.

Authorities say Castro drowned 4-year-old Alex Mercado in the bathtub of his Mendota home Oct. 30 after the child said he would reveal the molestation. Alex's body was found stuffed in a dryer.

If convicted, the teen faces a maximum of 47 years to life in prison.

http://**/breaking-news/ci_14658347