A fatal stabbing in Texas started as an online feud over a love triangle, family members said.
Kaitlin Leonor Castilleja, 18, was stabbed to death outside a San Antonio house on March 1. A 16-year-old who attended Madison High School with Castilleja in the 2016-17 school year has been accused of the murder.
The suspect’s name has not been released by police or news outlets.
The unnamed teen also stabbed Vivian Foster, 18, but Foster survived the attack, authorities said.
Love you always????
Posted by Andrea Castilleja on Sunday, 3 March 2019
Marie Fernandez, Castilleja’s aunt, said the attack stemmed from a love triangle.
Her niece and the teen exchanged taunts for weeks over social media and the rivalry led to violence after Castilleja’s ex-boyfriend returned to her after dating the younger girl, she told KENS 5.
“I guess an ongoing feud in regards to an ex-boyfriend,” she said.
Foster and Castilleja weren’t close but the former was the sister of Castilleja’s ex-boyfriend.
“I thought I was waking up from a nightmare,” Kaitlin Castilleja’s aunt said. https://t.co/ZmHyYGbMc5
— KENS 5 (@KENS5) March 3, 2019
The 16-year-old called the police at 1 a.m. on March 1 to say that Castilleja and Foster had assaulted her in her driveway when she got home from work after the pair messaged her online to say “they wanted to fight her,” officers wrote in a police report obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.
And Castilleja and Foster went to a nearby hospital for treatment. When officers arrived, they told them they’d been “stabbed after’ jumping’ a girl at her house.”
Within 24 hours, Castilleja died from her wounds.
According to Fernandez, the 16-year-old had other people there to help her fight.
An overnight fight between teen girls that resulted in the stabbing death of 18-year-old Kaitlin Leonor Castilleja was the talk of Madison High School today. https://t.co/ZhrJlwk40o pic.twitter.com/DvAw7CWvV4
— Krista M. Torralva (@KMTorralva) March 2, 2019
“They lured my niece to go over, they set her up, she had no chance,” Fernandez said. “They videotaped the attack. What kind of person does that?”
Social media accounts of the suspect show that she shared at least one video of herself fighting in addition to posting taunting and confrontational tweets, reported the Express-News, which obtained the girl’s name. Castilleja’s Twitter account is also full of taunting. She posted multiple times boasting about fighting.
In one post she shared recently, someone wrote: “There will always be someone more attractive than your significant other if you’re willing to take the temptation, you don’t deserve your partner or their loyalty.”
Another post she shared stated: “Hardest pill i had to swallow, was learning that no matter how good you could be to someone, no matter how much you love them, they can & will turn their back on you & there’s absolutely nothing you can do but suck it up & keep moving forward.”
In one post, she spoke of a video of a fight she was part of, saying: “I hit her goofy [expletive] once in the face then walked away.” The victim spoke to another girl on Twitter, saying that Castilleja had stepped into the fight that was between the teen and another girl. Castilleja jumped into the conversation, telling her: “If I wanted to ‘jump’ you I could’ve nobody was stopping me.”
“I got my swing in I know that [expletive] hurt,” she added.
today i lost a childhood friend. she had her life taken away at the age of 18…18. i knew her before she was called klc &kaitlin – i knew her when she was simply called “kaitie” . yes she has a name. yes she has a story. &yes , she was loved by many. those who were ever around pic.twitter.com/FQcsnMCgum
— Jae King???????????? || ???????????? (@mommajulieee) March 1, 2019
In three posts earlier in February, Castilleja seemed to aim at girls who were bothering her. “When will these [expletive] learn not to [expletive] with the wrong people??? Ya’ll just keep going,” she said. In another, she added: “I can’t stress this [expletive] enough because ya’ll [expletive] constantly getting your [expletive] rocked and still wanna have a big mouth.”
Fernandez claimed that her niece was not going to hurt the younger teen.
Castilleja “isn’t able to give you her side of the story, but it’s been ongoing bullying on both sides,” Fernandez said. “There’s so many factors that have contributed to this, and at the end of the day, whether it was wrong, in all aspects my niece had no intentions of hurting anyone.”
Police said they went to the house and found the murder weapon in the suspect’s driveway, reported KENS.
She is being held at a juvenile detention center until she appears for a hearing, which will likely be next week.
