In the quiet border town of Sierra Vista, Arizona, a life full of promise was tragically cut short on a Sunday afternoon. Therin Castillo Jr., a fifteen-year-old Hispanic male known affectionately as 'Boogie' to his friends and family, was a student at PPEC TEC High School, a charter school for at-risk youth. He was described as a funny and very athletic young man who perfected everything he put his mind to.
On February 18, 2018, Therin was sitting in a parked car with two friends
outside an apartment complex. Inside the vehicle, a stolen firearm became the centerpiece of a fateful game. In a moment that would forever alter the lives of those present, Therin began to play Russian roulette. The game ended in tragedy when he sustained an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The community was left to grapple with the sudden and devastating loss of a young life.
In the aftermath of the incident, an investigation was launched. While the shooting was deemed accidental, a teenager was arrested for being in possession of the stolen firearm that was involved in Therin's death. However, public records do not indicate that this individual faced charges directly related to the fatal event. The focus of the legal consequences remained on the possession of the illicit weapon rather than on culpability for the death itself. The tragic episode served as a grim reminder of the dangers of firearms in the hands of unsupervised youths. A GoFundMe campaign was created to help his family with burial expenses, raising over $4,000 from a community in mourning.
