3 teens charged in death of girl, 4
Trio could receive the death penalty if they’re convicted of capital murder
Three teens have been charged with capital murder in the death of a 4-year-old girl who was shot Nov. 14 while her family was robbed unloading groceries.
They could face the death penalty if convicted in the slaying of little Ava Castillo, whose mother and 10-year-old sister were injured in the altercation.
Family member Julie Gomez, whose sister is Ava’s mother, said she felt “relief ” when she learned of the charges.
“I’m just glad they’re off the street,” she said. “It’s a bittersweet moment, I guess. They’re caught. Now what? Ava’s not coming back.”
The men were identified in court documents as Philip Battles, 18, of Humble; Marco Alton Miller, 17, of Spring; and Ferrell Dardar, 17, of Houston. Battles already is facing another capital murder charge in an unrelated killing during a robbery last month. Ava and her mother, Diana Gomez, and sister, Betzida Castillo, were unloading groceries in the parking lot of their Greens point-area apartment complex in Harris County when robbers approached and demanded Gomez’s purse.
After a struggle, at least one of the robbers opened fire on the family, shooting as many as a dozen rounds. Three men then fled in a dark-colored car. Ava was rushed by Life-Flite to a hospital, where she later died. The mother and daughter were hospitalized but are recovering.
Miller and Dardar were arrested Friday, nearly four weeks after the shooting, according to court documents.
Battles was already in custody on a separate capital murder case, and admitted to the robbery of Castillo and implicated both Miller and Dardar in the crime, according to an official statement read during a probable cause hearing Friday night. A separate unnamed witness also said Miller and Dardar were at the scene.
Miller and Dardar did
not appear in court Friday, but Magistrate Eric Hagstette said there was probable cause in both of their cases and granted them no bond.
In probable cause court, the official statement provided some detail on how the Harris County Sheriff ’s office connected Miller and Dardar to the robbery and murder of Castillo. During the investigation, according to the statement, officers learned the suspects had committed numerous robberies of a similar type without providing any detail. Investigators also re- ceived an anonymous tip that a person named “Peewee” was responsible for shooting Castillo.
Battles was charged Wednesday in the death of a 62-year-old man who was gunned down Nov. 7 while tending his garden in north Houston.
Houston defense attorney Jerald Graber, who was appointed to represent Battles in the first case, said he expects to represent him in the new case as well and is putting together a team to investigate the allegations.
Julie Gomez said investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office called her sister with the news about 2 p.m. Friday.
“I would just like to give thanks to the detectives who worked around the clock,” she said.
She said she didn’t want prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
“That’s too easy for them,” she said. “I want them to spend their miserable lives in jail. You put animals to sleep. That’s too easy.”
Homicide investigators are not seeking any additional suspects in Ava Castillo’s slaying but are still looking into other crimes that could be connected, said Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland, the sheriff’s office spokesman.