Dellia Castile found guilty of child neglect

SOUTH BEND — In the end, the jury found her guilty not of being a monster but for refusing to admit that the monster was real — and in doing so, for allowing the monster to thrive, and to kill.

In took only 90 minutes for the eight women and four men of Dellia Castile’s jury to reach the unanimous decision Wednesday afternoon that the 53-year-old grandmother was guilty of failing to protect her three grandchildren — including 10-year-old Tramelle, who was found dead at her West Washington Street home last November.

Castile’s son, 35-year-old Terry Sturgis Sr., was convicted in May of murdering Tramelle and of abusing two other sons in a systematic style of torture that included regular beatings and the use of various
implements — a clothing iron, a heated screwdriver, ignited roach spray — to burn his sons.

Castile, who was never alleged to have harmed any of the nine children living in her home, was accused instead of allowing it to continue.

In evidence presented throughout her five-day trial, prosecutors repeatedly made that fact clear.

Four grandchildren — two who were sons of Terry and were beaten by him, and two who were in Castile’s custody — all testified that Castile was aware of the abuse, and that she had asked him to stop, even offering to do chores or give money.

“You could see from the faces they made at each other, these kids still love their grandma,” deputy prosecutor Joel Gabrielse told the jury during closing arguments Wednesday. “And yet they still said that
she knew.’

Besides her knowledge, Gabrielse said the greater culpability came from the fact that investigators, on at least three different occasions, asked her about abuse in the home.

“She made it worse,” Gabrielse said. “Instead of telling them the truth, she just held up her hands and said, ‘Nothing going on here.’”

Limited defense

But the fact that train investigators failed to spot the abuse suffered by Tramelle and his brothers was also a fact that Castile’s attorney, Anthony Luber, used in his closing arguments — asking for an acquittal of charges.

“There’s been no indication that she saw the kind of blows that were going to be delivered,” said Luber, attesting to the idea that Castile knew her son was “disciplining” the kids, but wasn’t aware of how severe the abuse had grown.

Luber’s closing arguments also pointed to fine points in the law, with which he argued that while Castile was the children’s grandmother, she didn’t have the same obligation of care that a parent would, meaning she could not be guilty of neglect.

Those arguments, however, had little sway with a jury that seemed to side with Gabrielse’s most poignant statement, in which he pointed to the testimony of Terry Sturgis’ oldest son, who after a night of savagery by his father — the same night Tramelle died — left the basement to seek refuge in the main floor bathroom, instead of with his grandmother in her bedroom upstairs.

“She didn’t just allow them to stay in that situation, she forced them into that situation. It was grandma — who would only go so far to protect them — who they turned to for help, and who they knew let the
abuse to continue. There was no one else who they could turn to for help.

“Instead, she forced them to live in that basement with that monster, and to firmly believe until death that there was no one else they could turn to.”

‘The only decision’

After the verdict was read and the jury was dismissed, Castile — who earlier in the day refused to testify in her defense — stuck her arms straight in front of her, urging sheriff’s deputies to bring on the handcuffs that she would wear back to jail.

For most of the trial, Castile’s limited mobility had been a point of her defense — that her poor health and weak legs made it difficult at best to walk up and down the home’s stairs — and had been noticeable in her slumping movements to and from court.

On Wednesday morning, she collapsed in the courtroom prior to the jury arriving and was taken to Memorial Hospital. She returned shortly after and the trial resumed.

But after the verdict, Castile stood up straight and walked briskly from the courtroom, saying nothing as TV cameras zoomed in on her departure.

Ludora Sturgis, Castile’s daughter who testified on her behalf, began crying after the verdict was read, but said little as she left the courthouse. No other family members, either for Castile or representing the grandchildren, were present in the courtroom.

With the conviction of three counts of Neglect of a Dependent, including two charges of a class B felony and one charge of a Class A felony. Castile faces a possible sentence of up to 50 years on the
more serious charge, and sentences of six to 20 years for the Class B felony. She is scheduled to be sentenced on November 8.

Gabrielse, speaking briefly with the press after the verdict was read, said the jury made the right decision.

“Obviously we got what we wanted,” Gabrielse said. “But it was the right decision. It was the only decision.”

Staff writer Dave Stephens:
dstephens@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6209