Ricardo Perez Castillo, a former Marine Corps recruiter, will be spending at least the next couple of decades behind bars. In June 2024, the man broke into a home in a Michigan gated community with the intent to kill. As he searched the home for a target, he found two sleeping girls and decided they would be sufficient. He then began stabbing an 11-year-old girl who was at the home for a sleepover. Thankfully, the girl didn’t die, but the entire experience has been traumatizing for everyone involved.
On November 26, 2025, 25-year-old Castillo pleaded no contest to assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, and second-degree assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct. He was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in prison for the assault charge and will serve the other sentences concurrently, WOOD reported.
“This case is disturbing on so many levels,” Judge Christina Mims said during sentencing. “What you engaged in was — just what comes to mind is a real-life horror movie or a horror show where you’re stabbing this child. It’s just by the grace of God that she wasn’t killed.”
Around 3 a.m. June 15, 2024, Castillo entered the home, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office said, per WOOD. According to a probable cause affidavit, video footage showed the man taking off his shoes, socks, and pants when he got inside. He then went into the kitchen to get a knife before going upstairs.
Castillo admitted he entered the home with the intent to kill everyone inside. He went into the bedroom of the homeowner’s daughter, where she and her friend were sleeping, per the outlet. He stabbed the friend multiple times, according to documents. Later, he admitted that he planned to kill her and then have sex with her dead body.
Ultimately, Castillo was stopped by the homeowner, who held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
Although the girl, who has not been identified because she’s a minor, didn’t appear in court during sentencing, she did send a statement that was read.
“I remember being in a lot of pain on the floor,” the girl wrote, according to WZZM. “I remember seeing all my blood everywhere — I remember feeling warm running down my body from the blood.” She said she “never would have guessed an innocent sleepover would have left me in the hospital with bad injuries.”
“I’m asking for the maximum time in prison,” she added. “This crime left me shook, frightened, horrified for my life and afraid.”
Attorneys for Castillo tried to argue that he was intoxicated at the time of the crime and believed the world was ending, WZZM reported. They argued for a lesser sentence given that the man had a good record before the crime and was remorseful for his actions.
During sentencing, Castillo got on his knees to ask for forgiveness. “I ask for forgiveness; I know I don’t deserve it,” he said. He also called himself a “lost person” and added that he had “found God” since his arrest, per WZZM. “I ask for forgiveness for all of you, for both families, for the whole community of Rockford, I ask for forgiveness. Sorry. I’m sorry,” he said.
As he was leaving the courtroom, Castillo asked if he could speak again, but the judge denied his request, WOOD reported. “God bless everybody,” he said as he walked out.
