On Thursday, November 7, 2024, our community watched as a school shooter threat unfolded. The suspect, 13-year-old Kenosha resident and Mahone Middle School District student, Donavon J. Castillo, was arrested at his home after he surrendered. There were no reported injuries resulting from this incident.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Today, Castillo, pursuant to a plea agreement, was adjudicated guilty for one felony charge of terroristic threats, and another charge of possession of a dangerous weapon on school premises was dismissed, but read in, according to Castillo’s attorney, Terry Rose. Castillo will be prohibited by law from owning a firearm for the remainder of his life. The judge overseeing this case is Judge Jodi Meier. She allowed only the Kenosha News in the courtroom today. Regional news were not permitted. Castillo could petition a court for expungement in three years when he turns 17. Judge Meier has been very lenient with very violent people in the past. For example she once released a man who tried to kill a woman after just over three years of confinement. The victim died soon thereafter. Her family believes it was becuase of the attack.
Castillo googled “school shootings” and told people he was going to shoot up Roosevelt school. He also took a video of himself saying as much. He tried to open all of the doors to the school, but was spooked by a teacher and ran off. He told police he was there to “sell candy.”
Castillo will remain in custody until he is sentenced on January 27, 2025.
Detectives executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home on November 8, 2024, at 2:54 PM. During the search they found several airsoft replica handguns and a replica rifle. No real firearms were located during the search. The suspect’s mother was cooperative during the course of our investigation and advised that the suspect does not have access to firearms. Detectives interviewed the suspect who claimed to have gone to the school to sell candy. He later told a social worker that he went to the school with the intent to scare students.
The response was driven by the information we gathered throughout the initial investigation. The Kenosha Police Department had reason to believe the suspect had access to some type of firearm based on videos on social media and other witness information. The actions on scene were extremely suspicious and the internet activity by the suspect suggested they had extensive research history related to previous school shootings, information on how to execute a school shooting, and specifics about the targeted building. These are all concerns that resulted in our decision to safeguard all schools within the entire county until we could confirmed that there was no further threat.
“Incidents like these remind us that our community is not exempt. We need to remain vigilant and be willing to say something if we see something. The Kenosha Police Department, Kenosha Unified School District, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, Kenosha Fire Department, Pleasant Prairie Police Department, and many other local stakeholders have invested many years of training and table top discussions to prepare for incidents like we saw yesterday. While yesterday’s incident did not result in unimaginable tragedy, it still had a powerful effect on many of us. We now know that the suspect’s intentions were displayed and shared with others well before the event unfolded and if reported earlier, we may have been able to intervene and provide resources that would have allowed us to avoid such an impactful incident in our community. As we try to process everything, we are encouraging everyone to have conversations with their children and talk about the importance of reporting suspicious activity. This link ( https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something) will direct parents to the Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something website, which provides many valuable resources,” said a Kenosha Police Spokesman.
23 Responses
What a horrible pathetic fat cow and excuse of a “judge”
There are plenty of reasons to be disappointed in Jody that don’t involve her face/body/weight… let’s take a look, shall we?
Like how the appeals court said NO reasonable judge would have ever done what she did in a case involving a mom who had language and cognitive issues. A case in which the state was trying to take this woman’s child from her forever and Jody’s actions were so outrageous, the appeals court overturned her.
Like how she REFUSES to get internet access at her house so others have to handle phone calls in the middle of the night for warrants when her phone “somehow” misses calls. Yeah- even when everyone was working from home for COVID, she did not get internet. Anyone still confused about the court backlog?!?!??!
Like how she gossips with her clerk , GALs, commissioners, attorneys, and anyone who will listen. She gossips about other judges, commissioner, attorneys, etc. She doesn’t get it- everyone knows she talks about them behind their backs. Even you, Sara!!!!
Jody has taken advantages of her closed hearings in juvenile court to be a bully and a tyrannt. SO HAPPY TO SEE it all come to light. Just ask the DAs office – they take the brunt of her abuse…along with the commissioners who she constantly complains about. She is already complaining about Smithers, who hasn’t even stated yet.
So, let’s try to focus on her failings and not her weight.
While concerns exist about Judge Meier’s behavior when unmedicated and its impact on staff and the public, it should be noted that a plea agreement was reached between prosecution and defense. The timing of this offer, whether before or after the new District Attorney’s appointment, requires clarification.
Regarding the media access issue, Meier should be given an opportunity to explain her criteria for selecting one media outlet while excluding others.
However, a more pressing concern for our judicial system is Judge Gabriele’s continued influence over commissioner appointments. This concentration of power raises significant concerns, as each newly appointed judicial officer potentially expands her influence through a network of favored appointees, raising concerns about the concentration of judicial power and lobbying interests.
Ask Judge Gerald about Angie’s influence… he has been under her spell for a long time. Or are we not allowed to criticise Kev’s favorite?
She and Heather “campaigned” to get Smuckers hired even though Smuckers had ZERO family law experience. Meijer and Kerkman were absolutley blindsided at the interviews. A and H went to Jason, David and Gerald to get their votes ahead of time. They had a majority of.votes.before the interviews. What a waste of time.for the other candidates. ALL of whom were much more qualified than Angie 2.0, I mean Smuckers.
Kevin should get the text and emails between the judges… they think those are not subject to open records requests but they are when they discuss work issues. Angie and Heather are notorious for their work emails… Heather was toooooo
dumb to delete them when she stopped “safe guarding” Kenosha as a child support attorney. She left behind some interesting emails.
SMH- these are your judges, Kenosha.
Amen!
Fat cow? You can do better than that.
Totally agreed. No need to insult cows or fat people by mentioning her.
Another bleeding heart lib judge, pathetic!
Good start for the new DA. Lmao 🤣
Unbelievable! Hopefully, if he ever reoffends there will be a 2A friendly private citizen to take care of this. Our justice system has been taken over by imbeciles.
Thomas Paine:
For your sake, I hope that friendly citizen
isn’t you.
Posting a strategy even if in jest, is the worst thing
you can do.
Yea guys throw the 14yo in jail for life go trump
Or better yet, send him back home with the other 11M
While concerns exist about Judge Meier’s behavior when unmedicated and its impact on staff and the public, it should be noted that a plea agreement was reached between prosecution and defense. The timing of this offer, whether before or after the new District Attorney’s appointment, requires clarification.
Regarding the media access issue, Meier should be given an opportunity to explain her criteria for selecting one media outlet while excluding others.
However, a more pressing concern for our judicial system is Judge Gabriele’s continued influence over commissioner appointments. This concentration of power raises significant concerns, as each newly appointed judicial officer potentially expands her influence through a network of favored appointees, raising concerns about the concentration of judicial power and lobbying interests.
Sounds like there’s a whole lot of power tripping going on in kenosha courts and for heaven’s sake judge Meier needs to wipe that smug look off of her face. I’m just taking a stab in the dark here, but I’m guessing Her choice for media allowance in the courtroom was chosen just because she “can”? Which also displays power tripping. Disgusting! And reading about all these female judges and their actions sounds like a bunch of teenage High school girls….jeez! Get it together!
I certainly hope expungement doesn’t
mean he will be allowed to possess firearms.
We do not need people giving responsible
gun owners a bad name.
Maybe he should have gotten some jail time to get the real feel of what it’s like and maybe have this little punk Get his little ass kicked and Put the fear of god in him!
In the midst of all of this we have a reminder of our broken mental health system. Terrible nationwide and Kenosha County is even worse.
They promote mental problems: you can change genders, two of the same sex can get married, hiring people solely based on looks, etc.
They don’t give a rats ass about mental health, they are just as insane.
Sounds like there’s a whole lot of power tripping going on in kenosha courts and for heaven’s sake judge Meier needs to wipe that smug look off of her face. I’m just taking a stab in the dark here, but I’m guessing Her choice for media allowance in the courtroom was chosen just because she “can”? Which also displays power tripping. Disgusting! And reading about all these female judges and their actions sounds like a bunch of teenage High school girls….jeez! Get it together!
We also have a reminder of how childish our judges are. When are you all going to grow up and stop with the gossip and petty games? Angie and Jodi need to go. Voters remember their behavior when it’s time for reelection.
Yep that how it works, long time attorney for Kenosha, got what he wanted for his client.
this is common way it works in Kenosha, the attorney the judge and the Da office all cover each other backs case by case
again, these judges have put people in prison for less. where is the justice. There is none in this town,
This judge like many are so all over the place with what they do there is no regularity to our system. and why was our local news
Kenosha county eye allowed in. I can tell you why! because they report the Truth and are leaders don’t like that!!!
She needs to go !