Man sentenced to nine years for beating infant

Lubbock County jurors sentenced a 33-year-old man to nine years in prison for severely injuring a 10-month-old boy two years ago, leaving the child with lasting physical impairments.

Brian Castillo faced a punishment of two to 20 years in prison after jurors on Thursday found him guilty of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

They believed he beat his ex-girlfriend's 10-month-old son while they temporarily stayed with him in Lubbock in late 2021.

Castillo, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since Jan. 27, 2022, was charged after a Lubbock police investigation that began on Dec. 22, 2021, after the boy was taken to the hospital in Levelland where he was found to have suffered fractures to his skull, ribs and spine, brain bleeding and hemorrhaging in his right eye.

Evidence presented to jurors showed that Castillo was the only person who watched the boy while his mother was at work.

Jurors deliberated Monday for about two hours before returning to the 140th District Court with a sentence that included a $10,000 fine, which is not restitution and will go to a state fund.

They also found that Castillo used his hands as a deadly weapon when he abused the child. The finding will require Castillo to serve half of his sentence before he becomes eligible for release on parole.

Sentencing phase proceeds

Castillo's defense attorney argued to jurors that prosecutors would be unable to disprove the boy's injuries stemmed from minor accidents that happened in the days before he was taken to the hospital.

Castillo told investigators that the day before the boy was taken to the hospital, he accidentally dropped the child while holding him when tripped over his bed and fell. He also said the boy also rolled off the bed a week before.

However, those accidents were the unlikely cause of the boy's injuries.

A child abuse pediatrician who testified in the guilt-innocence phase of the trial told jurors that she believed the boy's injuries resulted from "he suffered violent child physical abuse; injuries that were caused to him by the acts of another person."

Dr. Jennifer Hansen told jurors the injuries were consistent with the child being slammed multiple times. She said the boy's injuries were likely inflicted close to the time he was taken to the hospital.

The boy's brain injury caused a stroke, which impaired the right side of his body, according to court records.

Prosecutor Laura Beth Fossett asked jurors for the maximum sentence because of the severity of the boy's injuries and the resulting traumatic brain injury, which the boy's doctor told jurors will likely create obstacles for him as he grows up.

Dr. Roger Wolcott told jurors the boy made tremendous strides in his recovery but will likely suffer neurological impairments for the rest of his life, saying the boy will continue to need multiple forms of therapy.

However, he said patients with traumatic brain injuries are typically at risk for more brain injuries. It means contact sports such as basketball, football or baseball pose a greater risk for the boy.

"I've never seen anybody go through two brain injuries as bad as this one and recover that’s not like a spastic quadriplegic that can’t move and can’t talk," he said.

Fossett told jurors that the boy's recovery doesn't earn Castillo any grace or mercy.

"(The boy) is now, forever more, on a different playing field," she said. "Where was (the boy's) grace on Dec. 22, 2021?"

Castillo's attorney, Ben Garcia, asked jurors not to be swayed by emotion and to show mercy for his client.

He said a lengthy prison sentence was not necessary to punish his client, who has been held in jail for two years.

He asked jurors to sentence his client to 10 years in prison but recommend probation of a length to be determined by a judge.

He asked jurors to consider the testimony from his client's friends and family, who described him as a loving, kind and compassionate son, father and brother as well as a hard worker.

He said while in jail, his client used every resource available to him to improve his life. Jail officials told jurors that Castillo completed multiple parenting courses, which included an anger management program, and volunteers to make quilts for children who enter the CPS system.

Two of Castillo's childhood friends told jurors they would trust him to watch their children.

"Brian is not going to do this again," Garcia said. "You can rest assured that Brian is not going to hurt another child, that he has learned his lesson. He doesn't have to be locked away from a long period of time."

After the trial, Garcia said he appreciated the jury's consideration of the evidence and respected their sentence.

"While the case didn't go the way we wanted, Brian and the People got their day in court in front of a fair and impartial jury, and (District Judge Douglas) Freitag gave Brian a fair trial," he said.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Man sentenced to nine years for beating infant