The daughter of Ariel Castro, a suspect in the abduction of three women about a decade ago, is reportedly serving 25 years in prison for slashing the throat of her baby.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has tied the case currently unfolding in Cleveland to an Indiana newspaper article from 2008 about the trial of a woman named Emily Castro, believed to be one of Ariel Castro's daughters.
The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne reported at the time that Emily Castro, then 20 years old, had been convicted of attempted murder after she cut the throat of her 11-month-old daughter, Janyla. The baby survived the attack.
Castro's defense attorneys argued that she was mentally ill and paranoid that her family was trying to kill her, according to the Journal Gazette. Castro's brother Anthony -- who, in a strange turn of events, reportedly wrote a newspaper article about one of the missing girls soon after she disappeared in 2004 -- gave a statement at his sister's trial.
Now, Anthony Castro is speaking out about his father's alleged connection to the kidnapping of DeJesus and two other women who vanished within two years of each other in Cleveland. Castro told the Daily Mail that just a few weeks ago, his father asked him whether he thought authorities would ever find one of the victims, Amanda Berry.
"If it's true that he took [Amanda Berry] captive and forced her into having sex with him and having his child and keeping her hidden and keeping them from sunlight, he really took those girls' lives," he said of his father, per the Mail. "He doesn't deserve to have his own life anymore. He deserves to be behind bars for the rest of her life. I'm just thankful they're alive."
Berry, who disappeared while walking home from work at a Burger King in 2003, attempted Monday to escape the house where the women were being held. She caught the attention of a neighbor who heard her screaming.
Ariel Castro and two of his brothers have since been arrested. The three women were taken to local hospitals but were released and are in good condition.
(Hat tip, Indiana's NewsCenter)
