Five teens charged with murder in fatal stabbing in Sultan

Published 4:55 pm Friday, June 19, 2009

SULTAN – Five Sultan teens all took turns kicking and punching Antonio Marks as he was lying on the ground in downtown Sultan, prosecutors wrote in charging documents filed today.

All five teens have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Wednesday’s brutal attack on the Marysville boy,17.

Charged are Marco Castillo, 19, his brother, Adolfo Castillo, 16; Jaime Michel, 16; Ana Cary Ayala Bustos, 16; and Ivette Rico, 17, all of Sultan.

Marco Castillo is accused of stabbing Marks several times in the torso. All the teens have been charged as adults. If convicted, they face up to 18 years in prison.

Investigators say the defendants are members of the Sultan-based gang Brown Pride Soldiers, or BPS, according to the charging papers.

Marks was believed to be a member of a rival gang, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Blake said. He reportedly was dating the Castillos’ sister at the time of this death.

Investigators say Marks on Tuesday came to the Castillos’ house on Cedar Street in Sultan. He and Marco Castillo had some sort of dispute, Blake wrote. Marks left but later encountered Marco Castillo and the other defendants as they were walking back from a store, according to court documents.

The teens got into another confrontation. A video surveillance camera caught the killing on tape, Blake wrote.

Marco Castillo allegedly punched Marks in the face. The blow knocked him to the ground. The video allegedly shows the older teen standing over Marks and punching him several times. Marks didn’t fight back. Marco Castillo then backed away and the other four teenagers are seen kicking Marks in the head, according to Blake.

The video then shows Marco Castillo stab Marks several times in the torso while the other teens continued to kick the motionless Marks in the head, according to court documents.

Jaime Michel was the last teen seen with Marks. He reportedly grabbed Marks’ cell phone and then kicked him in the head, Blake wrote.

Marks was found lying in the middle of the road, feet from City Hall. He was taken by helicopter to a Seattle hospital. Marks died from the blows to his head and stab wounds, including one that sliced an artery, according to court documents.

Marco Castillo allegedly told investigators he didn’t intend to kill Marks but wanted to hurt him enough so that he couldn’t retaliate.

Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives recovered a bloody knife, along with bloody clothing from the house where the Castillos live with their parents, according to court documents.

Sultan officials have scheduled a community meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Volunteers of America Sky Valley Resource Center, 701 First St. City leaders are seeking feedback from the community what can be done to provide safe activities for young people.

Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick and sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Brand, the city’s police chief, are asking youths around town to be home by 10 p.m. for the next few weeks.