In the spring of 2014, the life of 42-year-old Nina Richea Slav Castro was tragically cut short in a violent act that underscored a history of domestic turmoil. On April 21, 2014, in the parking lot of her son's Catholic school in Griffith, Indiana, Nina was shot and killed by her estranged husband, 55-year-old Remanard Castro. The fatal confrontation occurred in the afternoon, horrifically witnessed by their 14-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. A registered nurse at St.
Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, Nina was a mother and the only child of her deceased parents.
The events leading up to the murder revealed a deeply troubled relationship. Nina had filed for divorce from her husband the previous fall. Following the filing, an altercation occurred in November 2023 where Remanard Castro allegedly sexually assaulted her at gunpoint in their Gary, Indiana home. This incident led to charges of rape and criminal confinement being filed against him in February 2014. He was subsequently arrested and posted 10 percent of his $90,000 bail. According to court records, he had threatened her, stating that the divorce 'was not going to be pretty and that the kids were going to suffer.'
After shooting his estranged wife, Remanard Castro fled the scene and returned to his residence in Gary. As police officers approached his home, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death brought a grim and abrupt end to the legal proceedings he was facing. The couple's divorce was scheduled to be finalized in June of that year. In the wake of the tragedy, those who knew Nina remembered her as a dedicated nurse and a loving mother, while the family encouraged donations to a refuge house for victims of domestic violence in her memory.
