A 14-year-old Mendota, Calif., boy has confessed to killing a 4-year-old neighbor because the boy was going to tell his mother the teen had molested him, according to a court affidavit made public Wednesday.
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.
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.
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