Former Marine Gets Decades In Prison For Rockford Girl Stabbing

A former Marine from Plainfield Township will spend many years in prison after a violent home invasion where he stabbed an 11-year-old girl in a Rockford-area house.

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The judge said the attack was like a real-life horror movie and that it was by the grace of God that she wasn't killed.

What happened

Back in June 2024, around 3 a.m., 25-year-old Ricardo Perez Castillo went into a home on Ella Terrace Court while the family was sleeping.

Once inside he took off his shoes, socks, and pants.

He then grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and walked upstairs to a bedroom where two girls were having a sleepover.

There, he repeatedly stabbed the visiting 11-year-old girl in the neck and upper body while her friend was in the room.​

The young girl’s screams woke up the homeowner, and he ran in and confronted Castillo with a gun.

The homeowner was able to keep him there until deputies arrived.

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In court doctors highlighted how serious the girls stab wound's were and that she's lucky he missed key blood vessels, which helped save her life.

The brave young girl in court talked about being stabbed.

She shared how she still remembers the pain, the blood on the floor, and the nightmares and fear she still has because of the attack.​

Charges and sentence

Castillo admitted in court that he went into the home planning to kill the family and to sexually abuse the girl’s body after killing her.

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He pleaded to assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, and a sex-related assault charge, and a judge sentenced him to between about 19 and 40 years in prison; he also must register as a sex offender.