Ex-deputy gets 6 years for South Gate crash that killed boy, 12

By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH

A now-former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Wednesday to six years in state prison for a high-speed, off-duty crash in South Gate that killed a 12-year-old boy.

Ricardo Castro, 30, pleaded no contest earlier this month to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the Nov. 3, 2021, crash that left Isaiah Suarez Rodriguez dead and injured the boy’s older sister, along with Castro and his passenger.

As part of his plea agreement, Castro waived credit for the time he spent in county jail before being released, as well as the time he subsequently spent on house arrest or electronic monitoring. He also surrendered his Peace Officer Standards and Training certificate, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Castro was handcuffed and led into a courthouse lock-up at the conclusion of his sentencing hearing in downtown Los Angeles.

During the hearing, the former deputy apologized, calling the crash a “tragedy” and an “accident.”

“It was never intended to happen,” Castro said. “… I am truly remorseful for the loss of Isaiah.”

Castro said he wanted to personally apologize to the boy’s mother and sister, saying he has always strived to be a role model and steer clear of trouble.

“This accident has taken so much from so many people,” he said.

Before handing down the sentence, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar called the case “a tragedy for both families.”

“Mr. Castro will be required to pay dearly for his actions,” the judge said.

In an emotional victim impact statement, the boy’s mother, Betsabe Suarez, told the judge that her son’s death has “left a void in my life” and that she is “filled with anger and sorrow.”

“Each day is a struggle, a constant reminder of the joy that was taken from us,” she said. “I’m proud to be called his mother.”

Speaking directly to the former deputy, she said, “Because of your careless actions, you took away my son’s life … You knew what you were doing was wrong … Ricardo, you stripped me of a beautiful future with my only son.”

The judge also heard from a dozen of the boy’s other relatives, including his uncle, John Allen, who said, “Was it an accident? No. Far from it.”

He noted that Castro had taken an oath as a law enforcement officer and was “supposed to protect our citizens,” but said he wondered if the defendant may have thought he was “above the law.”

Allen said that the family pleaded with doctors to do anything they could to save the boy’s life and that the boy’s mother was told that nothing could be done.

The boy’s uncle said the family had prayed for justice, but questioned whether the sentence seemed fair.

Another of the boy’s uncles, Jose Suarez, said the boy had made the decision on his own to get baptized three days before the crash.

“He was taken from us too early,” his sister, Alexa, said.

Other family members described the boy as loving, funny and having an infectious laugh.

Meanwhile, the defendant’s younger sister said that she could “guarantee” that what happened that day was a “complete accident.”

She said her brother had been painted as “such a horrible person,” but that he has been a mentor to her throughout her life and “will continue to be my role model.”

“I love you, Ricardo, and I will forever be in your corner,” she told him.

At a news conference last year announcing the case, District Attorney George Gascón said an investigation showed that the off-duty deputy may have been traveling at speeds nearing 95 mph in a 25 mph school zone as he approached the busy intersection of Firestone Boulevard and San Juan Avenue.

The district attorney said then that Castro received rigorous training through his work as a sheriff’s deputy and had significant personal and professional knowledge about the dangers of driving at an excessive speed.

“Mr. Castro’s recklessness ended the life of a boy with an entire future ahead of him and destroyed a family,” Gascón said at the time. “This tragedy was preventable and should have never happened.”

Castro’s driving history revealed that he has been involved in “multiple collisions” and received several traffic tickets, including for speeding, the district attorney said.

“Mr. Castro was also involved as a passenger in a fatal traffic collision just three months prior to this fatal collision,” Gascón said.

South Gate Police Department Chief Darren Arakawa said at the February 2023 news conference that the boy was an “innocent child” who “didn’t stand a chance in that crash.”

Arakawa said the off-duty deputy was driving his Ford pickup truck at an “unsafe speed far beyond the speed limit” when he broadsided a Mercedes-Benz in which the boy was riding as his sister was negotiating a left turn.

“Despite the valiant efforts of L.A. County firefighters and medical staff at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Isaiah did not survive this horrific event,” the police chief said.

“I want to emphasize that this was a preventable incident that was clearly in the hands of Mr. Castro, and that cannot be understated. At the time of the collision, the street was heavily populated with motorists and pedestrians and occurred during a time period while school children were still present.”

The victim’s mother said then that the boy was out that afternoon to get a ruler for a classmate whose ruler had been taken away while being bullied.

Castro was originally charged in February 2023 with one count each of murder, vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving causing great bodily injury. The murder and reckless driving counts were dismissed as a result of the plea agreement involving the vehicular manslaughter plea.

“Today, as difficult (as) it is, is an enormous win for justice,” one of the former deputy’s attorneys, Robert Sheahen, said outside court. “This case never should have been filed as a murder and we thank the District Attorney’s Office for their courage in reaching an equitable resolution.”

Castro was the second Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy to be charged in just under two years in connection with a deadly high-speed crash while off-duty.

Daniel Manuel Auner, now 26, was sentenced in June 2023 to 13 years in prison on charges stemming from a crash that killed one of his passengers, 23-year-old Ashley Wells, and seriously injured two other young women in his Dodge Charger.

Auner — who was initially charged with murder and was a former deputy by the time of his sentencing — pleaded no contest to one count each of voluntary manslaughter and gross vehicular manslaughter and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He was given credit for 371 days already served while on house arrest and he waived credit for an additional 365 days