A Marine Corps recruiter from Michigan will spend decades in prison after a horrifying 2024 home invasion in which he stabbed an 11-year-old girl during a sleepover and told investigators he intended to “kill the entire family.”
Cpl. Ricardo Perez Castillo, 25, pleaded no contest to assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. On November 26, 2025, Judge Christina Mims sentenced him to 18 to 40 years in state prison, along with mandatory sex-offender registration.
The sentences for each charge run concurrently under the plea agreement, replacing his original slate of four felonies that included assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct.
The case, which rattled the Rockford, Michigan, community and stunned Marines across the country, began in the early hours of June 15, 2024. Prosecutors say Castillo—highly intoxicated, dressed only in a shirt and underwear, and carrying a kitchen knife he had taken from inside the home—broke into a residence on Ella Terrace Court at approximately 3 a.m. and entered a girl’s bedroom where two children were sleeping.
Investigators testified that Castillo told detectives he intended to “kill the entire family,” and after attempting several locked doors upstairs, he sought out what he described as an “easier target.” He then crawled into the room where the girls slept, removed his underwear, and began stabbing the 11-year-old. Her screams awoke the adults in the home, and the homeowner subdued Castillo at gunpoint until sheriff’s deputies arrived.
The girl survived stab wounds to her neck, arm, and shoulder. Court documents show Castillo told investigators he planned to kill her and then commit a sexual act on her body.
Before arriving at the Ella Terrace Court home, Castillo had also unlawfully entered another nearby residence, startling a homeowner who later told police the Marine warned him to “always be armed” before leaving. Minutes later, Castillo continued southeast into the gated River Bluffs neighborhood, where he carried out the attack that would end in his arrest.
Deputies found him in the child’s bedroom with a bloody knife beside him. Security footage corroborated the sequence of events.
During sentencing, the homeowner and the victim’s stepfather described the psychological trauma that has reshaped their lives, according to a Fox17 reporter who was present in the courtroom. The family ultimately moved homes. The stepfather, who has spent years working with Marines struggling with combat stress and alcoholism, said he had “never seen somebody highly trained, willing to kill, willing to rape in such horror.”
The victim’s own written statement, read aloud in court, described the physical pain, the humiliation of classmates asking about her injuries, and the fear that followed her home from the hospital. She recounted nightmares, flashbacks, and an overwhelming sense of being unsafe in what should have been the most secure place in her life.
“I do not want this to happen to another girl,” she wrote. “Please keep this man in prison.”
Castillo, a Waterford, Michigan, native, enlisted as an infantry Marine and previously served with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines at Camp Lejeune. In October 2023, he became a canvassing recruiter with Recruiting Station Lansing. Marine officials told reporters at the time of his arrest that Castillo had no known prior criminal convictions and no record of disciplinary issues in the Corps.
Local law enforcement reported no apparent connection between Castillo and the families he targeted, describing the attack as “totally random.”
Castillo’s attorneys argued that he had been severely intoxicated, claiming their client believed “the world was ending” during the attack and that he was acting while in a confused, delusional state. They highlighted his traumatic upbringing, his brother’s death from alcoholism, and years of family instability, portraying the incident as a sudden break rather than a reflection of who he was as a Marine or citizen.
That argument became a focal point of the sentencing hearing. Judge Christina Mims referenced the “world was ending” explanation directly, saying it heightened her concern about Castillo’s mental state and the potential danger he posed. She told the court that the idea of a trained Marine breaking into homes while armed with a knife under the belief that an apocalypse was unfolding made the crime even more disturbing.
“This case is disturbing on so many levels,” Judge Mims said. “It’s disturbing that you would go into these people’s home, that you didn’t know, that you would arm yourself in their home, that you would almost kill a child who was only trying to sleep over with her friend.”
She noted it was “by the grace of God” that the young girl survived and emphasized that for the victims, no sentence would ever feel long enough. Mims added that while Castillo showed remorse, the cruelty and randomness of the attack demanded a sentence at the high end of the guidelines.
Castillo will be eligible for release no sooner than the early 2040s.
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