Man accused of stabbing, running over girlfriend hours after her birthday

Erin Castro was found dead after calling her mother for help, police say

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police have made an arrest in the death of a 19-year-old woman found run over and stabbed along a Northwest Side road early Sunday.

Joshua Garcia, 20, has been charged in the death of his girlfriend, Erin Castro.

According to police, Castro was found just hours after her 19th birthday in the 6100 block of Camp Bullis Road shortly after police pinged her location through her cellphone.

Police said Castro's mother told them her daughter had called her, saying Garcia had stabbed her in the neck and wasn't letting her out of the car, but that she didn’t know where she was.

Officers arrived to find Castro at the location with massive trauma to her entire body, and investigators said they believe she may have been stabbed in the neck just before being run over multiple times.

Police said Castro had an on-again, off-again relationship with Garcia.

According to an arrest affidavit, Garcia's mother told police her son called her and admitted to running over Castro. 

Garcia's brother told police that Garcia called him to the location where Castro's body was later found. The suspect's brother told police that Garcia said he was having "a problem with (Castro)."

When Garcia's brother got to the scene, he told police he saw the pair fighting and that she fell. He told police he saw Garcia get into his car and run Castro over, then reverse over her body and get out of the car to kick Castro.

Garcia told investigators that he, Castro and another man were on the way to a club when Castro "began acting belligerent, scratching his face and assaulting him while he drove." He claimed he kept on driving until he ended up on a dark road and called his brother to their location.

An affidavit states he told investigators he hit Castro "to the point she was on the side of the road not moving." He added that he ran over Castro "because he was scared of what would happen if she called the police."

The person who was riding in the backseat of the car when Castro was killed told police he saw Castro assaulting Garcia. The affidavit said he told police the pair got out of the car and continued fighting when Garcia's brother tried to break them up. 

He said he saw all three of them fall to the ground when Garcia got up, got into a car and ran Castro over.

Garcia is charged with murder. 


About the Authors:

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.

Max Massey is the GMSA weekend anchor and a general assignments reporter. Max has been live at some of the biggest national stories out of Texas in recent years, including the Sutherland Springs shooting, Hurricane Harvey and the manhunt for the Austin bomber. Outside of work, Max follows politics and sports, especially Penn State, his alma mater.