Sunday, December 4, 2011

Corpus Christi, TX: Boyfriend of Sinton woman found shot in the head Friday arrested early Saturday

The boyfriend of a Sinton woman found shot in the head early Friday in Taft was arrested early Saturday in connection to her death, San Patricio County Sheriff’s officials said Saturday.

Reynaldo Castillo, 49, was arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence and murder San Patricio County Jail officials said. Tampering with evidence calls for $500,000 bail, but Castillo was being held Saturday without the possibility of bail.

Amy Kate McGowan, 32, was found in the trunk of Castillo’s Buick with a single gunshot to the head, about 6 a.m. Friday at his family’s home in Taft. She was alive, but died on the way to the hospital. She had two young children.

The couple had been at a party late Thursday at Casa de Oro apartments in the 700 bock of Ave D in Sinton, sheriff’s officials said.

Police found projected blood in the apartment Friday afternoon, following tips from party goers.

Castillo, who was interviewed early Friday by investigators, was picked up by Corpus Christi police late Friday after Sinton Police Department investigators got a warrant from San Patricio County Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Judge Yolanda Guerrero, sheriff’s officials said.

Corpus Christi officers drove Castillo to Portland and turned him over to officers there, who delivered him to Sinton police investigators.

Castillo was booked into the jail at 1:09 a.m.

No one else has been arrested in connection to McGowan’s death, officials said.

Castillo has a previous drug conviction and was charged alongside seven other men in the July 25, 2008 Segrest Street shooting in Corpus Christi that killed Danny Villarreal and sent three children to the hospital. Shotgun pellets struck two of the three children in the home.

In June, Castillo was one of two men facing charges in the shooting who were found not guilty of four counts each — two aggravated assault with a deadly weapon counts and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Visiting Judge Jack Hunter decided on the verdicts after hearing several days of testimony, which included two prosecution witnesses — both former gang members — who testified the two men were involved in the Segrest shooting.

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