SOUTH BEND – Two grandchildren offered some compelling testimony on day 3 of the Dellia Castile trial.
Castile is the South Bend grandmother accused of not reporting abuse that led to her grandson's death. The abuse took place inside the home where the family lived together.
Castile's son, Terry Sturgis, is serving life in prison for murdering his son, 10-year-old Tramelle, and abusing his two other children.
About 7 people testified on Monday. One was Castile's granddaughter, Tramelle's cousin.
She smiled at Castile, waved and made eye contact with her a number of times throughout her testimony.
The 13-year-old granddaughter lived in Castile's home and said she shared a room with her grandmother upstairs.
Sturgis and his kids lived in the basement.
This teen said on a regular basis, her cousins would be screaming in the basement, She said they were being whooped by their dad.
When asked if her grandmother had any reaction to the noises, she recalls her grandma saying this:
"He (Terry Sturgis) needs to stop whooping them before he's gonna kill them."
And the teen told the jury Castile said to Sturgis often: "Stop before you kill one of the kids."
When asked if her grandmother did anything to stop the beatings, the 13-year-old remembers Castile offering Sturgis money to stop the abuse.
In cross examination, she was asked if Castile had trouble hearing. Her response, "I don't think so."
Dellia Castile's 11-year-old grandson also took the stand Monday, saying he knew his cousins were being abused by their father inside their home on West Washington Street.
The 11-year-old was Tramelle's cousin and says they were best friends. He vividly remembers his grandmother treating Tramelle's wounds with medicine from the store.
The grandson made eye contact and smiled at Castile in court before he testified.
He told the jury he saw bruises on his cousin's hands and arms all the time. At one point, he told Tramelle, "Go upstairs and tell Grandma."
On more than one occasion, he said they both told Castile about the beatings.
Castile's grandson remembers the night Tramelle was found beaten to death. He testified his grandma said to his uncle Terry Sturgis, "Why did you do it? Why did you do it? I knew it was going to happen."
An investigator, who went to the home multiple times in 2011 after someone reported abuse taking place inside the home, said Castile seemed shocked that abuse was taking place. She said she wouldn't allow that and claimed those allegations were false.
