Ohio authorities will seek aggravated murder charges against a former Cleveland school bus driver accused of kidnapping and raping three women during a decade of captivity in his house.
The aggravated murder charges would stem from the forced miscarriages that police alleged were suffered by one of the women at the hands of Ariel Castro, 52, who is accused of holding them captive at his house in Cleveland. County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said at a news conference on Thursday that his office intends to pursue charges of kidnapping and sexual assault as well as aggravated murder, which could carry the death penalty.
“The law of Ohio calls for the death penalty for those most depraved criminals who commit aggravated murder during the course of a kidnapping,” he said. The city of Cleveland has already filed kidnapping and rape charges against Castro, who appeared briefly in a municipal court on Thursday.
Daughter ‘so sorry’: After Castro appeared in court, his daughter, Arlene, spoke of her embarrassment and devastation over the case and apologised to the three women who accused him of the horrific crimes.
One of the women, Gina DeJesus, now 23, was her friend and the pair were walking home together just before Gina disappeared in 2004.
With tears streaming down her face, Arlene had a message for DeJesus and fellow kidnap victims Amanda Berry, now 27, and Michelle Knight, 32, on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“I’m absolutely so, so sorry,” she said. “I really want to see you Gina and I want you to meet my kids. I’m so sorry for everything.”
Brothers’ minor charges:
Castro’s two brothers, Pedro and Onil, were originally arrested over the abductions, but were not charged over the case. However, they also appeared in court before Judge Lauren Moore on Thursday on charges of drinking in public. Onil Castro was also charged with drug abuse. Castro was formally charged on Wednesday with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. Castro was being kept on a suicide watch and his lawyer said she expected him to be kept in isolation in jail.
