Indio man sentenced for mother’s murder

UPDATE:
———————————– Daniel Castro has been sentenced to 15 years to life for second-degree murder in the beating death of his mother.
The judge considered parole, but it was denied stating that Castro can be a danger to himself, his family and the public. Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 & CBS Local 2 for more on this story. ORIGINAL
————————————- An Indio man convicted of second-degree murder for beating his mother to death in their home was scheduled to be sentenced this morning as family members continue to try to convince the courts that the defendant has the mental capacity of a child and the slaying was not his fault. Daniel Castro, 34, faces the possibility of 15 years to life behind bars for killing 51-year-old Ofelia Guzman on Jan. 31, 2011, after she woke him up to go to work. Castro, who was twice previously committed to Patton State Hospital, was convicted by an Indio jury last year, with jurors agreeing with a prosecutor’s assertion that Castro was aware of the danger to Guzman’s life when he attacked her. Deputy District Attorney Joshua Hill said Castro became angry over his mother’s repeated attempts to wake him and punched a hole in the wall of his bedroom, which prompted her to tell him he had to move out. They argued, and Castro kicked and beat his mother, leaving her unconscious and bleeding in his bedroom closet, Hill said. Castro then left for work but then left the job site and never returned, according to the prosecutor, who said Castro got onto a bus and spent the remainder of the day hanging out with friends. Castro’s family members contend that these events represented an aberration, that Castro has always been nonviolent, and that he should never have been declared competent to stand trial. “I was saddened by the jury’s verdict because I believe in my heart that Daniel would never try to kill our mother. There is just no way,” Castro’s sister Heidi Mercado-Anaya told the court during a hearing earlier this year. “His actions that morning were not planned. I would even say that they weren’t even his actions.” Castro’s family hopes that he may be granted probation and released into their care, something that both the courts and his family first has to determine is both legal and practical. Mitchell Steinman, Castro’s brother-in- law, said the family will do whatever it takes to accommodate him and see he gets the care he needs. “We know that the burden would fall on us, but we know we have the ability to keep him safe,” Steinman said. But Hill expressed fears that Castro would be a danger to the general public, or his family, if placed in a conservatorship-type scenario. Nonetheless, the family maintains Castro would not endanger them or anyone else and that a prison stay would be, in effect, a death sentence. “Daniel is a grown man physically, but not mentally, and the thought of him in prison is beyond scary to me,” Mercado-Anaya said. Castro’s other sister, Maritza, who found Guzman’s body that morning, told the court through tears, “While my brother is responsible for our mother’s death, I do not, nor have I ever felt that he murdered my mother. There’s no justice here. There’s no justice for my mother and there’s no justice for my brother. There is no justice for my family.” Hill argued that Castro’s mental incompetence was being overstated by the defense and that initial denials of the killing to Indio police indicated that Castro “functions a lot better than defense counsel represents.” Hill said many of Castro’s symptoms could be attributed to drug use, including symptoms that landed him in Patton State Hospital, where he was diagnosed with “substance abuse-related psychosis” rather than schizophrenia, according to the prosecutor.