Man Stabbed to Death in Front of Family
Norman Castillo
A family man from Hopkins Village was stabbed to death on Friday night in front of his house. The incident happened less than two months after a mass shooting and it has left the family reeling, a neighbour in disbelief, and a community wanting to stomp out crime from their otherwise peaceful village. The incident claimed the life of Norman Castillo, a construction worker who is described as a quiet, easy-going fellow. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story in the following report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Forty-five-year-old Norman Castillo was at home on an unnamed street behind the basketball court in Hopkins Village with his family sometime around ten p.m., on Friday when trouble visited their residence. Castillo’s son, Norton Castillo, told News Five that he had only gone inside the house for a few minutes to put on a song and by the time he went back outside, his father had already been mortally injured.
Voice of: Norton Castillo
Voice of: Norton Castillo, Son of Deceased
“All ah we mi deh deh: me, my stepmother, my neighbour and my pa, four ah we. I just gone inside fi gone change a song, cause we mi di play music. We might di chill-out and then the group ah young man deh pass. Dehn come from the restaurant da front then dehn pass. Dehn seh something an my pa ask dehn what da the problem and thing and da then the next one charge afta my pa and stab ah.”
Norton Castillo told us that he had to ward off his dad’s attackers and assist him after he was stabbed.
Norman Castillo
Norton Castillo
“When I see that the bally done stab my pa da then I run outside and I pick up two stone and I stone bally then the man manage fi run. Then I she I neva mi wa put my mind fi chase bally, mek I mek sure my pa arite soh I neva gone afta bally. I just gone try get my pa and move my pa.”
The wounds to the chest proved fatal and Norman Castillo collapsed on the street side. He died a short while later. Fritz Coleman heard the commotion during which his neighbour was being killed.
Fritz Coleman
Fritz Coleman, Neighbour of Deceased
“I heard a lot of noise in the back yard so we were wondering what happened, so I quickly opened my back door to the cries of probably his wife and kids crying and little before coming downstairs one of the young persons who was there passed by my house and said that he got stabbed.”
Coleman says he feels that this latest incident, coming on the heels of the mass shooting at Wabinaha Night Club, not even two months earlier, can discourage visitors from going to Hopkins Village.
Fritz Coleman
“We have to brace ourselves to try to see how we can minimize crime because people are coming into Hopkins every single day and the tourism industry is beginning to bloom back and looking good for us. So we have to have that sense of security. After the two murders and this one now, I’m afraid that people will start to question if they are going to be safe when they come into Hopkins.”
Norman Castillo
But even more severely, the incident has shattered a family.
Norton Castillo
“I nuh get no rest from since the thing happen. Right now I can’t sleep, can’t eat. Ih hurt, mein and when I talk about it ih hurt more. I can’t believe – I just di chill with my pa five minutes. I just di chill with my pa and ih just dead like that.”
Police have detained four persons pending investigations. Marion Ali for News Five.
