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Case Background
Engelica Castillo is charged with the June 2009 murder of her 2-year-old niece, Jada Justice.
Prosecutors contend that Engelica and her then boyfriend, Timothy Tkachik, beat Jada about the head because she would not behave. Eventually Jada was shoved and hit her head on the edge of a table and did not wake up.
Instead of seeking medical treatment for the child, they placed her in the car seat and went out to purchase heroin. They brought the child back into the house a placed her in the basement for the night. The next day, according to police, Tkachik went to the store and purchased a rubber container and cement. He then came back to the house, mixed the cement, placed Jada inside the container, and covered her with the cement. When the cement hardened they both took Jada’s body to a remote location, removed the plastic container, (presumably to avoid leaving fingerprints), and tossed the body into a creek.
They came back to town and Engelica went to the gas station, went inside and then came out after a few minutes claiming Jada had been kidnapped out of the vehicle. An AMBER Alert was activated. Eventually the story told to police fell apart and the truth came out.
I really don’t understand why Jada was staying with her aunt. Some stories stated Jada was there specifically to be potty trained by the then 18-year-old Engelica Castillo.
Earlier this year Timothy Tkachik entered a plea of guilty to two counts of neglect of a dependent. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped all other charges and Tkachik agreed to testify against Engelica in her murder trial. The death penalty is not being sought; however, prosecutors are seeking life without the possibility of parole.
Pre-trial
August 2, 2010
July selection began today. It is expected that at least 500 people will make up the jury pool.
August 4, 2010
The jury of 7 women and 5 men have been seated for the Jada Justice murder trial. The next step in the process is questioning a few more people to serve as alternates. After the alternates are selected the trial will begin with opening arguments.
Already, one juror has been dismissed after admitting to reading a story online about the case. Jurors were specifically instructed by the judge to avoid reading information about the case outside of the courtroom.
Trial
- Presiding Judge:
- Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr.
- Prosecution:
- Trial Supervisor David Urbanski and Deputy Prosecutor Aleksandra Dimitrijevic
- Defense:
- Lemuel Stigler and John Maksimovich
- Charges:
- Murder, two counts of neglect of a dependent and false informing in the death of Jada Justice
- Possible Sentence:
- Life Without Parole or a specific number of years. The sentence is to be determined by the jury and the judge is expected to follow the recommendation of the jury.
Verdict
Sentencing
Appeals
Sources
Trisha, Well, I Left Her in the Car, Missing & Murdered Children, a blog, Last Accessed: 08.02.10.
Jury Seated as Castillo Murder Trial Set to Start, Post-trib.com. Last Accessed: 08.04.10.
Susan Brown, Jury Selection Stalls in Jada Case, NWI.com, Last Accessed: 08.04.10.
The End of the Story 