Trial for a man accused of murdering his girlfriend in 2019 is underway
EL PASO, Texas -- Murder trial for Jose Casas, who was 18-years-old when El Paso police say he shot and killed his 18-year-old girlfriend Santana Castro begins.
During the first day of the trial, Santana's brother Raymond took the stand to testify. He was the one who found Santana not breathing and lying motionless on her bedroom floor in July of 2019 after police say Casas shot and killed her.
"I kept on screaming her name, and she wouldn't wake up," Raymond said in court Monday. "I touched the side of her neck and it was really cold, one of her eyes was closed, the other was facing another direction where it usually wouldn't go, her face was covered in blood."
Raymond also said he tried to pick her up, and her brain splattered back on the floor. At this moment, he stopped talking to cry.
His testimony was incredibly emotional, and this wasn't the only time he had to stop talking to cry or exhale.
He also couldn't bring himself to turn and identify Casas, who he says was nowhere to be seen when he found Santana dead.
Raymond told the court he, Santana and Casas all lived at their mother's home at the time of the murder.
On the day of the murder, Raymond says the trio smoked marijuana in Casas' car. He said, looking back now on that moment, "the energy seemed a bit off."
Raymond said he later spoke to his sister alone in the kitchen and asked if everything was okay. He says she turned around with a big smile on her face and said 'yeah, I'm good.'
Later in that conversation and the last they would ever have, Raymond says Santana told him, 'be safe, be careful, I love you.' He responded, 'I love you too.'
He left the house after that conversation, and at the time, he thought nothing was wrong, only to return to find his sister dead.
Raymond told the court he didn't see any weapons in the house the day of the murder, and neither he, his Mom or his sister had a gun. Raymond was on parole when the murder happened and wasn't allowed to have a gun.
