PLACERVILLE, Calif. — A Placerville man was sentenced Friday to 28 years to life in state prison for the 2017 killing of his mother and the attempted murder of his 4-year-old niece, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office said. The sentence concludes a case that shocked the community and has unfolded across multiple court proceedings since the June 2017 attack.
What happened (timeline & facts)
• June 13, 2017: Authorities say the child’s parents dropped their 4-year-old daughter — identified in court filings as O.E. — at her grandmother’s home in Placerville before leaving for work. When the child’s father returned that evening he found 49-year-old Silvia Castillo dead in the living room from multiple stab wounds and the girl on the floor critically injured.
• June 16, 2017: Investigators identified and arrested Bernardo Castillo, then 24, in El Centro after distributing photos of a person of interest and the vehicle involved; media reports said his clothing at arrest was soaked with blood later matched to the victims.
• Nov. 14, 2025: After years of legal proceedings, Bernardo Castillo was sentenced to 28 years to life. The DA’s office issued a statement following the ruling.
The victims
Silvia Castillo, 49, was identified by authorities as the homicide victim. The 4-year-old niece survived emergency treatment for more than a dozen stab wounds and has been described by officials and media reports as a survivor whose recovery remains a central part of the case narrative.
Prosecution’s view & quote
El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson called the 2017 stabbings
“an act of unimaginable violence,”
and said the office was grateful the child survived and that the sentence holds the defendant accountable.
“While no sentence can undo the harm, we are grateful that O.E. survived and that justice has now been served,”
the DA’s office said in a public statement.
The brutal nature of the attack — reported at the time to include dozens of stab wounds to Silvia Castillo and more than a dozen wounds to the child — rattled Placerville and prompted an extensive sheriff’s investigation and a manhunt that led beyond county lines. Local media coverage and social posts by county officials kept residents apprised as the investigation and later court actions progressed.
Public reports indicate the case moved through arrest, charging and trial phases over several years before culminating in the November 2025 sentencing. Specific court filings, plea documents and trial transcripts will provide the detailed legal record; those documents are typically filed with the El Dorado County Superior Court clerk’s office and are available to the public subject to any protective orders or redactions for privacy. (Court records were not attached to this article.)
The DA’s office released a statement summarizing the sentence and its rationale; county law-enforcement officials previously released updates during the 2017 investigation. Family members of the victims did not provide an on-the-record statement to media at the time of sentencing, according to available reports.
Cases of intrafamily violence remain rare but deeply traumatic for small communities. Local authorities and victim-services organizations often urge residents to report concerns about loved ones in crisis and to seek resources immediately. For those seeking support after violent incidents, El Dorado County Behavioral Health and local victim-advocacy groups can provide counseling and assistance; residents should consult official county resources for current contact information.
Sources
Reporting for this article used local and regional news outlets and statements from the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. Key contemporary coverage and official posts include KoloTV, The Sacramento Bee, the DA’s Facebook post, and contemporaneous 2017 local news reports.
