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Isaiah Suarez Rodriguez

Age : 12

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 11/01/2021

Location : Firestone Boulevard and San Juan Avenue

City : South Gate

County : Los Angeles

State : California

Agency : Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Officer(s) :Ricardo Castro

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police vehicle crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 11/03/2021, at approximately 3:55 p.m., off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ricardo Castro drove his pickup truck eastbound on Firestone Boulevard in South Gate at an extraordinarily high speed. Investigators determined Castro was approaching 95 mph as he entered the intersection at San Juan Avenue. The normal speed limit was 35 mph and was reduced to 25 mph when schoolchildren were present.
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Twelve-year-old Isaiah Suarez Rodriguez was riding in a car driven by his 19-year-old sister, Alexa, who was waiting to make a left turn at the intersection. Castro’s pickup struck their car with tremendous force. Isaiah suffered fatal injuries and died at a Long Beach hospital. Alexa suffered broken bones and other serious injuries. Castro and his passenger were also injured.
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Isaiah had gone out with his sister that afternoon for an extraordinarily ordinary reason: he wanted to buy a ruler for a classmate whose ruler had been taken away while the child was being bullied. Three days before his death, Isaiah had decided that he wanted to be baptized. He loved superhero movies, playing Animal Crossing and swimming with his family, and dreamed of becoming a chef.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES:
1 Fatality, 3 Injuries, including serious injuries to Isaiah’s sister.
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EYEWITNESS OR FAMILY STATEMENTS:
Isaiah’s mother, Betsabe Suarez, said her family was completely broken by his death and publicly expressed relief when Castro was finally charged more than a year later because she feared her son’s death would be brushed aside. She described how much she missed Isaiah and emphasized that her son had an entire future ahead of him when he was killed.
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DISPOSITION:
Los Angeles County prosecutors charged Castro in February 2023 with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and reckless driving causing great bodily injury. Prosecutors argued that Castro’s history of crashes and traffic violations, his law-enforcement driving training and his personal experience with a fatal collision demonstrated that he understood the lethal danger of extreme-speed driving.
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On 09/05/2024, Castro pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. On 09/25/2024, he was sentenced to six years in state prison. As part of the resolution, Castro surrendered his California Peace Officer Standards and Training certification, effectively ending his law-enforcement career.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Ricardo Castro had a significant driving history before killing Isaiah. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón disclosed that Castro had previously been involved in multiple traffic collisions and had received several traffic citations, including speeding tickets. Prosecutors considered that history important in bringing the original murder charge because it demonstrated Castro’s prior knowledge of the dangers created by reckless driving.
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Most significantly, only about three months before killing Isaiah, Castro had himself been a passenger in a separate fatal traffic collision. Prosecutors specifically cited that experience, along with his previous crashes, speeding citations and extensive law-enforcement driver training, as evidence that Castro knew the potentially deadly consequences of excessive speed when he drove approximately 95 mph through South Gate.
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The Sheriff’s Department administratively removed Castro from field duties following Isaiah’s death but continued paying him while the criminal investigation remained pending. After prosecutors filed felony charges in February 2023, LASD relieved Castro of duty without pay. His subsequent surrender of his peace-officer certification ended his ability to continue working as a California law-enforcement officer.
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LITIGATION:
Isaiah’s mother pursued legal accountability following her son’s death. The criminal case ultimately resulted in Castro’s felony vehicular-manslaughter conviction and six-year prison sentence.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://people.com/crime/la-sheriffs-deputy-charged-murder-crash-killed-12-year-old-boy/
https://lacounty.gov/2023/02/15/sheriffs-deputy-charged-with-murder-of-12-year-old-boy-in-off-duty-crash-in-south-gate/
https://da.lacounty.gov/about/inside-LADA/Sheriffs-Deputy-Charged-With-Murder-of-12-Year-Old-Boy-in-Off-Duty-Crash-in-South-Gate
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/deputy-arrested-in-south-gate-crash-that-killed-12-year-old-boy/
https://abc7.com/post/south-gate-deadly-crash-isaiah-rodriguez-deputy-arrested/12819592/
https://abc7.com/south-gate-deputy-lasd-sheriff/12865848/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-15/los-angeles-sheriffs-deputy-charged-murder-crash-south-gate
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-09-06/deputy-pleads-to-vehicular-manslaughter-in-killing-of-12-year-old-boy
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/former-la-county-sheriffs-deputy-sentenced-to-6-years-in-crash-that-killed-12-year-old-ricardo-castro-isaiah-suarez-rodriguez/
https://www.foxla.com/news/lasd-ricardo-castro-sentenced-for-fatal-crash
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article272525446.html