Man, 18, charged in shooting death of Hammond teen

A botched $140 drug deal ended with the March 11 shooting death of a Hammond 15-year-old, an affidavit alleges.

Christopher A. Wells, 18, was charged March 16 with murder in the shooting death of Jesus Castillo, according to recently unsealed court filings. Wells was extradited from the Cook County Jail in Chicago, records show.

Court documents do not yet indicate if Wells has a lawyer. His initial court Lake Superior Court appearance was scheduled Wednesday.

In a phone call with detectives, Wells claimed self-defense, saying Castillo, of the city’s Hessville section, tried to rob him as Wells was buying drugs from him, court records allege.

Castillo’s body was found five blocks north in the parked red Ford Explorer Wells drove, court records state. The boy had been shot a dozen times, with seven bullet fragments later pulled out, according to a coroner.

Police were called around 8 p.m. March 11 to the 2800 block of 164th Street after reports of a shooting, documents state.

Wells said he went there with a friend to buy marijuana and THC cartridges from Castillo, a “kid,” whom he bought drugs from before, records allege.

Castillo was told to get into the back seat, which his own friend thought was odd, records state.

The friend heard gunshots once Castillo got into the vehicle and it took off with the boy still inside, the affidavit states. Police found a temporary paper license plate registered to Wells on the north side of 164th Place near an alley, records state.

Detectives found the red SUV with the back window shot out parked on the 6100 block of Marshall Avenue. Castillo’s body was inside, according to the affidavit.

Police collected evidence from the vehicle including several spent 9 mm casings, and a gun, charges state.

“Some kid tried to rob me with a gun and idk what happened after that I panicked and left my car and I was gonna call the cops but I don’t want to go to jail even tho it was self defense,” Wells wrote in a text to a relative, according to court documents.

Wells declined to speak with detectives in person, but called one the next morning, records show. He said he went to buy $20 in marijuana from Castillo, charges state. He claimed Castillo lifted his shirt up quickly and Wells couldn’t tell if he had a weapon. He “kinda blacked out” and parked on a side street after shooting the teen, charges state.

“Do you know by chance did the other kid have, like a, did he have a gun on him, or was it a knife in his waistband or anything?” Wells asked police.

Wells’ friend, Alizah Johnson, who was in the vehicle during the shooting, claimed to police that Castillo tried to rob Wells. Johnson was charged March 26 with assisting a criminal, a level 5 felony, records show. A judge entered a not guilty plea March 31.

“Don’t move, give me everything you got,” he claimed Castillo said, according to court documents.

Johnson said Wells pulled out a handgun and ordered Castillo to get out, records allege. He said Castillo refused and lunged at Wells, before he heard gunshots. He didn’t know who fired a weapon and took off. Blocks away, they parked and eventually got an Uber, he said.