HOUSTON — A brick shrine featuring photos and mementos stands near the spot where U.S. airman Albert Castillo Jr. was shot and killed in August of 2021, just two days after surprising his dad and others by coming home on leave from an Air Force base in Nebraska.
"He drove 13 hours to come spend time with his mom, with his dad, with all of us,” stepmother Minerva Castillo said.
Castillo spoke with us while sitting inches from bullet holes left unrepaired.
They're evidence of the irreparable damage done during a family barbeque.
"It’s something we deal with daily," Minerva Castillo said. "You know, my husband comes in that driveway and he cries every day.”
Albert Castillo Jr.’s father was also shot but survived the drive-by over what we’re told was a previous minor altercation.
Suspect Giovanni Ornelas, 34, disappeared while out on bond earlier this month. His ankle monitor, which had been cut off, was found at a bus stop.
"We were literally 24 hours away from our trial to get started and he ran,” Minerva Castillo said.
Castillo’s large family joined Crime Stoppers and the Houston Police Department on Friday to announce an increased $10,000 reward for information leading to Ornelas’s capture.
"He meant so much to so many people,” grandmother Patty Ortiz said during the news conference.
"We are going to find you, we are going to hunt you down, I don’t care how long it takes,” Andy Kahan, with Crime Stoppers, said.
Castillo’s family prays justice comes swiftly for the man accused of ending such a promising life.
"And he needs to pay the consequences," Minerva Castillo said. "He needs to go to jail, and hopefully they’ll give him life for what he’s done.”
Authorities are on alert for Ornelas both in Houston and at the border.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers or HPD.
Meanwhile, at least one alleged accomplice remains in custody.