A Colorado woman and her father were granted restraining orders against her ex-boyfriend a week before he allegedly shot and killed her father and her other family members, along with a neighbor.
On October 30, authorities responded to a 911 call from 21-year-old Joseph Castorena’s ex-girlfriend, who has not been named but survived the shooting that took place at an Aurora home that day, according to the Aurora Police Department. Two children were also inside the home but were unharmed.
The victims were identified as the woman’s father, 51-year-old Jesus Serrano, her sister 22-year-old Maria Anita Serrano, Maria’s husband, 21-year-old Kenneth Eugene Green Luque, and neighbor 59-year-old Rudolfo Salgado Perez.
Castorena was arrested on December 10 in Mexico, after more than a month on the lam, according to police, who credited the FBI for helping to spearhead the manhunt. He was flown to the U.S. on December 11 and was booked into a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office detention center in Phoenix, Arizona.
It was unclear when he would be transferred to Colorado or if he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
In the search for Castorena, authorities also arrested his brother, 18-year-old Juan Angel Castorena, and his cousin, 22-year-old Carlos Casillas-Flores in November. Both family members are facing a charge of accessory after the fact, first-degree murder, according to police, who said there was no evidence the pair were directly involved in the shooting.
Police said the incident stemmed from an ongoing domestic situation between Castorena and his ex-girlfriend.
A week before the quadruple homicide, the woman had apparently raised her concerns about Castorena’s behavior, alleging that he had a history of abuse.
“Really controlling, harassing all the time, I had to listen to him or he’ll hit,” she wrote in her Oct. 24 request for a restraining order, the outlet reports. “[He] wouldn’t let me see my family.”
Soon after, her father also applied for a restraining order, claiming Castorena had been harassing him and previously threatened to kill members of the family.
Both temporary restraining orders were granted, with a permanent protection order hearing scheduled for five days after the killings happened.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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