Man who fatally stabbed fellow inmate in Michigan facility gets over 24 years in prison
MILAN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A federal inmate at a facility in Michigan was sentenced to over 24 years in prison after stabbing a fellow inmate 28 times, killing him.
Alex Albert Castro, 42, formerly of Fontana, California, was sentenced after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and his convictions at trial for two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Castro was sentenced to over 24 years in prison, which will run consecutively to the 42-year sentence Castro already serves for a drug trafficking conviction.
The stabbing happened at the Federal Correctional Facility in Milan.
"This sentence sends a message that assaults and murders in our prisons will not be tolerated. We will not turn a blind eye to violence committed by inmates and we will ensure that those who put the safety and security of other inmates and prison staff at risk will face substantial additional punishment," said U.S. Attorney Ison.
According to court documents, Castro, along with Jason Dale Kechego, 41, and Adam Taylor Wright, 42, killed fellow inmate Christian Maire.
Castro stabbed Maire with a shank 28 times. Maire was stabbed in the head, neck and back, and while Castro was stabbing him, Kechego and Wright repeatedly kicked and stomped on Maire's head.
Wright kept corrections officers from intervening, and the three men threw Maire's body head-first down a flight of stairs.
Officials say the three then celebrated his death.
Maire's cause of death was multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his head.
During this time, Castro, Wright and Kechego assaulted and seriously injured two other inmates.
In February 2022, Wright pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 292 months in prison. Kechego was convicted of second-degree murder and served 336 months.