ALEX MERCADO - 4 yo (2009) - Mendota CA

I do agree with you Red. It just makes me so incredibly sad, that's all. Just an all round hideous case.

Raul does look like just a child, himself. It makes me sick at a society that all too often promotes, teaches and allows such behaviors and is not allowed to teach 'morals'. I wonder what allowed the FBI to search his house; did his mother find little Alex's body in the her dryer? My sympathy to her also - seems like she has been through something similar before. She too has lost a son.
Oh what a horrible world. Glad there is a "Found children" section.

RedHead wrote:

kiwimom wrote:Perhaps the trial was delayed again as I can't find any news. I came across this photo of Raul though and it shocked me. He looks like just a baby himself. This is such a gut wrenching case. Raul was no doubt abused by his own father, who served time for molesting a 5 year old relative. It was a heinous crime Raul committed but it breaks my heart to think of what he must have endured to make him like this and what he will suffer.

I can't feel sorry for Raul. 14 is definitely old enough to know better, even if he may have been molested himself...it doesn't give him a pass or absolution of any kind in my book. Alex was 4 years old...I have a nearly 4 year old (also names Alex) in my house and the thought of anyone harming him in that way would render me murderous. May God have have mercy on Raul's soul...I have none to give him.

I agree with you Redhead. I don't have no mercy for him either. Sadly a lot of children are abused but do not become an abuser and sadly a lot of children who have NOT suffered abuse become abusers . There is no excuse for this . Absolutely none . May Alex rest in peace and Justice be done to the max.

The mother of a murdered 4-year-old has broken her silence on the court case against the teenager accused of killing her son.
15-year-old Raul Castro is charged with kidnapping, molesting, and murdering 4-year-old Alex Mercado.
Castro was only 14 at the time, but Action News is showing his face
because he's being tried as an adult. The prosecution rested its case
Tuesday. Mindy Mercado has been in tears several times during
the trial and she cried again as she spoke to Action News about the
case. She said she wants to be there to make sure justice is served,
but as she hears the evidence, her heart is breaking all over again. Mercado says her 4-year-old son lived for the very thing that killed
him. "He had a thrill for water," she said. "He really loved water and
it just breaks my heart that [water] caused his death." Coroners
say the little boy's cause of death was drowning. Dr. Michael
Chambliss says Mercado also suffered blunt force trauma, leaving six
bruises on his head -- and not all from the same fall. "It means
that either the child's head was struck against something or the child
itself fell against something," Chambliss said. In a taped
interview with detectives, then-14-year-old Raul Castro admitted to
having sexual contact with Alex Mercado, then holding the younger boy's
head under water. As the confession played in court, Castro's
mother cried right along with Mercado's family. But Alex's mother
noticed the defendant listened without emotion. "I don't see any
remorse," Mindy Mercado said. "How can I forgive the individual and his
family when I see nothing? I don't see [any] tears." Mercado
says she just wants justice in her son's name. But she realizes even
the maximum sentence against Castro won't bring her son back. "Every
birthday will come and he won't be here to celebrate," she said. "Every
holiday will come and a present will sit under the tree for him.
Everything will continue for me to be without him." The defense
takes over Wednesday with an expert witness who will testify that Castro
wasn't conscious of his actions as he killed Mercado. After that,
it'll be up to the judge to decide whether Castro is guilty. He faces 47 years to life in prison if he's convicted.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=8082970

A California teenager accused of molesting and drowning a 4-year-old
neighbour boy and hiding his body in a clothes dryer was convicted of
first-degree murder on Friday.

A judge also found 15-year-old Raul Castro guilty of lewd and lascivious
conduct and sodomy. The judge found Castro not guilty of kidnapping.

Castro was tried as an adult in the October 2009 killing of Alex
Mercado. Castro was 14 when he drowned the preschooler in a bathtub
after the child said he would tell his mother about the sexual assault.

The Mendota teen confessed in taped interviews with detectives to sexually assaulting and killing the boy.

Castro's defence attorney, Barbara Hope O'Neill, argued the teen was
mentally ill and did not intend to kill Alex. O'Neill based her argument
on the testimony of a psychiatrist who said Castro's mental illness led
him to disassociate with reality.

The doctor testified that Castro has a history of depression, suicidal behaviour, hallucinations, bipolar disorder and anxiety.

He also said the teen had suffered physical abuse as a toddler by his
mother's boyfriend. Castro had an out-of-body experience as he killed
and sexually assaulted Alex, psychiatrist Avak Albert Howsepian said.
But prosecutor Robert Romanacce challenged the doctor's credibility.
The murder was premeditated, the prosecutor said, and Castro was in a
clear state of mind at the time.
A judge decided the case after Castro waived his right to a jury trial.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 24.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10721097

Teen gets prison in murder of boy stuffed in dryer

The Associated Press
Posted: 06/24/2011 01:18:54 PM PDT

FRESNO, Calif.—A Central California teenager has been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of molesting and drowning his 4-year-old neighbor, then hiding the boy's body in a clothes dryer.
A Fresno County judge sentenced 15-year-old Raul Castro to 33 years to life in prison Friday, three months after the teen was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Castro has acknowledged to authorities that he drowned Alex Mercado in a bathtub in October 2009 after the preschooler said he would tell his mother about the sexual assault.
Castro was tried as an adult and his defense attorney asked that Judge Jonathan Conklin decide the case instead of a jury because of the details of the crime.
The Mendota teen confessed in taped interviews with detectives to luring the 4-year-old into his house, sexually assaulting him, lying on top of him in the bathtub to drown him and then stuffing the boy's body into the dryer.
Castro's defense attorney, Barbara Hope O'Neill, argued the teen was mentally ill and did not intend to kill Alex. She based her argument on the testimony of a psychiatrist who said Castro's mental illness led him to dissociate with reality.
The doctor testified Castro has a history of depression, suicidal behavior, hallucinations, bipolar disorder and anxiety. He also said the teen was physically abused as a toddler by his mother's boyfriend.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18347282?nclick_check=1

stupid POS-i agree with redhead-he knew better

Snipped from an article above:

"He also said the teen had suffered physical abuse as a toddler by his mother's boyfriend. Castro had an out-of-body experience as he killed and sexually assaulted Alex, psychiatrist Avak Albert Howsepian said.
But prosecutor Robert Romanacce challenged the doctor's credibility. The murder was premeditated, the prosecutor said, and Castro was in a clear state of mind at the time.
A judge decided the case after Castro waived his right to a jury trial."

I swear they can find a psychiatrist somewhere to testify to anything. How ridiculous! Glad the murderous kids got 33 years! If we were to believe this psychiatrist, then he would murder again anyway.