Alex Mercado, missing boy found dead

[Bailey]

Missing 4-year-old Mendota boy found dead in neighbor's dryer

By Brad Branan

Fresno Bee
Posted: 11/02/2009 07:35:51 AM PST
Updated: 11/02/2009 02:25:35 PM PST

Residents of Mendota are struggling to come to terms with the weekend killing of a 4-year-old boy and the arrest of a teenage neighbor implicated in his death.

Residents of the town of 10,000 had been aware of Alex Christopher Mercado's disappearance since Friday afternoon because of fliers posted across town, media accounts and word of mouth.

Dozens of residents searched for Alex until officials announced that he had been found dead in a neighbor's dryer Saturday.

His death sent shock waves across town, Mendota leaders said Sunday.

"Everybody was looking for the little boy," said Joseph Riofrio, a member of the Mendota City Council and a business owner. "It's really shocking and unsettling. This is something that happens in big cities, in other places. Now it's happened here."

Alex is the first homicide victim since Mendota opened its police department two months ago. But under an agreement with Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, the Sheriff's Office is in charge of the investigation because the nine-officer department doesn't have the resources to handle homicide cases, Police Chief Jerry Galvin said. He said he couldn't comment Sunday on the investigation.

Mims announced Saturday night that a 14-year-old boy who lives next to Alex has been arrested in connection with the killing, adding that Alex was put in the dryer after he was killed. Neighbors told the Fresno Bee that the suspect's mother had been a baby sitter to Alex.

A spokesman said Mims' office expects to make public more details about the investigation today.

A crowd was gathered around Alex's home when Galvin broke the news to his father, Riofrio said. The father dropped to his knees in anguish and his mother screamed.

The death elicited strong feelings across Mendota.

"The whole community is upset about it," Galvin said.

Alex's disappearance also brought the community together, as they helped Mendota police, the FBI, and the Sheriff's Office with the search, Galvin said.

Members of area churches, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kerman, where Alex's mother is a member, participated in the search.

Alex's mother asked for the church's help shortly after his disappearance, said Bishop Nathan Fox with the Kerman church.

Church members also have helped the family by cooking meals and providing housing for relatives who have come from out of town to comfort the mother and father.

"It's been devastating," Fox said. He added that the fact that a teenager has been arrested "makes it very unsettling."

Riofrio said efforts are being made to raise money for Alex's burial. His mother is pregnant and unemployed and his father is a farmworker, Riofrio said.

A sense of unease has permeated Mendota, where parents are worried about the safety of their children, Mayor Robert Silva said. He saw fewer children than usual on the streets for Halloween on Saturday night.

"A crime like this has never occurred in Mendota, and I have been here around 60 years," Silva said. "People are scared."


http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13694135

[Bailey]

KTLA.com (FOX40.com affiliate)

November 2, 2009

MENDOTA - A teenager is facing murder charges after a missing 4-year-old boy was found dead inside a clothes dryer in Mendota, California, authorities said.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says 4-year-old Alex Christopher Mercado's body was found Saturday inside a neighbor's home. A 14-year-old boy who lived in the home was arrested later that day on suspicion of killing Mercado.

Mims says the boy was placed in the dryer after he was killed.

The boy's parents reported him missing Friday afternoon, according to sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice. Deputies and dozens of volunteers combed the area through the night, hoping he would turn up alive. Mercado's body was found in the dryer about 24 hours after he disappeared.
The suspect's name and details of the boy's death have not been released.

http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/...,3428819.story

[Bailey]

Published online on Monday, Nov. 02, 2009
The Fresno Bee


An autopsy was completed today on 4-year-old Alex Mercado of Mendota, whose body was found in a neighbor's dryer Saturday.

Fresno County Coroner David Hadden said Sheriff Margaret Mims will disclose the cause of death this afternoon. Mims scheduled a 3:30 p.m. news conference to talk about the the case.

A 14-year-old boy who lives next to Alex's home has been arrested in connection with the slaying.

A fund in memory of Alex has been set up at West America Bank in Kerman.

Contributions can be made through any West America bank. Checks should be made to the Alex Mercado Memorial Fund, account No. 0261977268.

http://www.fresnobee.com/1100/story/1695874.html

[Bailey]

How to help
A fund in memory of Alex Mercado has been set up at Westamerica Bank in Kerman. Contributions can be made through any Westamerica bank. Checks should be made to the Alex Mercado Memorial Fund, account No. 0261977268.

Document reveals chilling details; 14-year-old's arraignment delayed.
Published online on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee

An arraignment scheduled for today for the 14-year-old Mendota boy accused of killing his 4-year-old neighbor has been delayed until Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Jon Nick Kapetan granted the delay after the teen's attorney said she had not had a chance to review Fresno County Sheriff's Office investigative reports she received today.

11:56 a.m.: A 14-year-old Mendota boy has confessed to killing a 4-year-old neighbor because the toddler was going to tell his mother the teen had molested him, according to a court affidavit made public this morning.

Raul Renato Castro molested Alex Christopher Mercado in the bathroom of the Castro’s home on Tuft Street in Mendota, the affidavit said. When Alex started crying and threatened to tell his mother, Castro said he decided to kill him, the affidavit said.

Castro held the boy under water for two to four minutes. He then got into the tub to hold the boy down until he died, the affidavit said.

After checking the boy’s pulse to make sure he was dead, Castro said he slung the boy over his shoulder and carried him to a clothes dryer. He put the body in the dryer to conceal the victim’s whereabouts, the affidavit said. He then took a shower and changed his clothing.

The chilling new details are contained in Castro’s court file. The affidavit by sheriff’s detective Sergio Toscano was written in support of getting a warrant to arrest Castro.

The new details elaborate on the information that Sheriff Margaret Mims has already released to the public.

Mims has said Alex was playing outside his Tuft Street home in northwest Mendota on Friday when the 14-year-old lured him into his home next door, Mims said.

The next day, officials from the FBI and the Sheriff's Office searched the teen's home and discovered Alex's body in the dryer, Mims said. Sheriff’s detectives Toscano and Hector Palma interviewed the teenage suspect at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

According to Toscano’s affidavit, Castro was read his Miranda rights against self incrimination. Castro, however, said he understood his rights and agreed to talk to the detectives, the affidavit said.

Castro said he saw Alex outside his home Friday, but initially said he had nothing to do with the child’s disappearance.

The detectives then asked Castro how the boy ended up dead in his clothes dryer.

Castro said, “Maybe someone broke into his home and put the victim in the clothes dryer,” according to the affidavit.

The detectives said they knew Castro was being untruthful and encouraged him to be honest.

Castro then admitted to killing the boy. He then went into detail about how he lured Alex into his home by telling the toddler he had something to show him.

Once inside the home, Castro led the boy to the bathroom, where he molested him and sodomized him, the affidavit said. Soon after Alex started to cry, and saying he was going to tell his mother, Castro killed him. The affidavit doesn’t specify when that happened.

Castro is being held in the Juvenile Justice Campus south of Fresno. His bail is more than $2 million. He will be arraigned this afternoon on murder charges.

10:11 a.m.: The arraignment of a 14-year-old Mendota boy in the slaying of a 4-year-old neighbor was delayed until this afternoon in Fresno County Superior Court.

Raul Renato Castro was expected to enter a plea of not guilty this morning in the killing of Alex Christopher Mercado, but Judge Jon Nick Kapetan delayed the proceedings to give the victim’s family and friends time to make it to court.

Castro’s family and friends, including his mother, Elsa Castro, 39, were in the courtroom this morning with hopes of seeing her son. But he was not brought into the courtroom.

During the wait, Elsa Castro left the courtroom and cried. She declined to comment, but Raul Castro’s grandmother, Desidora Hernandez, told reporters that Raul Castro “is a nice kid.”

“We don’t know what happened,” said Hernandez, 68, of Mendota.

A criminal complaint charges Castro with first-degree murder and four special allegations associated with that charge -- that it was committed along with child molestation, sodomy, and kidnapping, and in order to silence a witness. Castro also faces separate felony charges of kidnapping, sodomy and child molestation.

He is being held at the county Juvenile Justice Campus south of Fresno.



According to Sheriff Margaret Mims, Alex was playing outside his Tuft Street home in northwest Mendota on Friday when the 14-year-old lured him into his home next door. The next day, officials from the FBI and the Sheriff's Office searched the teen's home and discovered Alex's body in the dryer, Mims said. The body was put in the dryer after he was drowned, Mims said. The sheriff has not specified how or where Alex was drowned or why he was killed.

In a statement released Tuesday, District Attorney Elizabeth A. Egan announced that her department was charging Castro as an adult, using a California law that gives prosecutors the discretion to try offenders as young as 14 as adults.

Under the law, a youth offender cannot face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, said Egan's spokeswoman, Sonia De La Rosa. If convicted, Castro could face up to 47 years to life in prison, De La Rosa said.

Prosecutors will charge a 14-year-old boy as an adult today in Fresno County Superior Court in the slaying of 4-year-old Alex Christopher Mercado of Mendota.

But Raul Renato Castro's mother said justice won't be served by prosecuting him as an adult.

"I'll never understand why he did it," Elsa Castro said in a telephone interview Tuesday evening. "He's a good boy who has never been in trouble."

Elsa Castro said she hasn't slept or eaten well since Alex was discovered dead in the dryer of her home Saturday. "It's like one big nightmare," she said.

She said it also hurts her to know that the Mendota community has turned against her and her son, painting him as weird.

"He's never hurt anyone," she said. "He's a good, intelligent boy who was raised right. All I can say is that I did my best."

She said her son was doing well in eighth grade, earnings B's and C's.

Today, Raul Castro faces charges of first-degree murder and four special allegations associated with that charge -- that it was committed along with child molestation, sodomy, kidnapping and in order to silence a witness. Castro also faces separate felony charges of kidnapping, sodomy and child molestation.

He is being held at the county Juvenile Justice Campus south of Fresno.

Elsa Castro, a single mother, said she plans to be at her son's arraignment. She said she feels sorry for Alex's family, "but I lost a son, too."

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, District Attorney Elizabeth A. Egan announced that her department was charging Castro as an adult, using a California law that gives prosecutors the discretion to try offenders as young as 14 as adults.

Egan's office used the law in the case of 15-year-old Bethany Clark of Fresno. Prosecutors say she lured her friend to a remote area, where he was carjacked and killed.

http://www.fresnobee.com/832/story/1697404.html

[Bailey]

Published online on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee

3:19 p.m.: The arraignment of a 14-year-old Mendota boy on murder charges in connection with the slaying of a 4-year-old neighbor has been delayed until Tuesday.

Raul Renato Castro, wearing handcuffs and leg shackles, made two brief appearances in Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jon Nick Kapetan’s courtroom.

In the morning, the Public Defender’s Office announced it could not defend Castro because of a conflict. In the afternoon, Kapetan appointed Fresno attorney Barbara O’Neill to defend Castro, who is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Alex Christopher Mercado.

O’Neill asked to delay Castro’s arraignment because she wanted time to read the investigative reports before her client enters a plea.

A court affidavit in support of an arrest warrant says Castro has confessed to sexually molesting Alex before drowning him in a bathtub on Oct. 30.



Castro, who is being tried as an adult, is being held in the Juvenile Justice Campus south of Fresno. His bail is $2 million.

10:35 a.m.: The arraignment of a 14-year-old Mendota boy in connection with the slaying of a 4-year-old neighbor has been delayed until this afternoon.

Raul Renato Castro, wearing handcuffs and leg shackles, made a brief appearance this morning before Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jon Nick Kapetan.

The reason for the delay was not made public, but the Public Defender’s Office announced this morning it could not defend Castro because of a conflict.

Castro is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Alex Christopher Mercado. A court affidavit in support of an arrest warrant says Castro has confessed to sexually molesting Alex before drowning him in a bathtub on Oct. 30.

Castro is being tried as an adult. His bail is $2 million.

http://www.fresnobee.com/406/story/1705433.html