Local man sentenced for deaths of two children

A motion to set aside a jury’s decision to convict an Onancock man on two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the vehicular deaths of two young sisters was denied Wednesday in Northampton Circuit Court.

Instead, Retired Judge A. Joseph Canada Jr., sentenced 23-year-old Joseph Michael Castiglia, of Savageville Road, to five years each for the counts of involuntary manslaughter and 12 months for reckless driving. All but a year and five months of the manslaughter terms was suspended and all but six months of the jail sentence was suspended for a total of a year and 11 months of active time to serve. His driver’s license was revoked indefinitely.

Defense lawyer James Broccoletti contended his request to set aside the verdicts had merit and that he would be appealing the manslaughter convictions. He asked that Castiglia be released on an appeal bond, which was also not granted. The defendant has been in the Eastern Shore Regional Jail since he was convicted approximately four months ago. Broccoletti said due to the backlog of cases, his client could serve all of his time before an appeal could be granted.

Commonwealth Attorney Jack Thornton said, “The jury has spoken. The motion was denied. He is, under the eyes of the law, guilty.”

Broccoletti said there was no evidence that Castiglia fell asleep, that he was drinking or using drugs, or that the crash was anything other than an accident.

Thornton argued that to overturn the jury’s decision would mean that 12 people came to an irrational decision. He contended when all the pieces of the case are combined, they are more than rational. The defendant never used the brake, said he hated school buses, and was likely speeding for conditions based on the force of impact, said Thornton. “He knew he was too fatigued to drive.”

The victims, Dajeryliz Ortiz Lebron and Naydaanaliz Ortiz Vasquez, 12 and 15 years old, were riding in the backseat of a car stopped for a county school bus picking up other children on Lankford Highway, near Treherneville.

According to evidence, one of the sisters died when Castiglia’s 2006 Ford F-250 pickup struck the back of a 2007 Toyota Yaris, driven by the girls’ mother, Nayda Vazquez Negron. The mother and another sister survived the crash. The Yaris was smashed when the impact caused it to hit a pickup in its path.

“We don’t know exactly what the jury honed in on,” said Judge Canada. The impact was so severe that it bent the frame of the pickup truck in front of the car when there was six feet between them before the crash. “With that kind of impact, the speed must have been very high. The road is straight, the day is clear, no obstructions, no rain.”

Nayeliz Torres Vazquez, the now 15-year-old sister of the deceased girls, was the middle sister of the three and a crash survivor. She testified that the accident changed all the lives of her family and friends. “You have taken their life away from us,” she said speaking to Castiglia.

The oldest would not get to work with animals as she planned, graduate from high school, or go to Puerto Rico and show her friends around, the girl said.”My little sister, the little model, … loved to wear dresses and high heels. I would help her out and she would help me out … My sisters were such a big part of my life … the pain you have brought to me is unbearable. I can’t stop looking for some meaning … how do you sleep at night? They were young and beautiful. They were innocent. Their lives were only about to begin. You are responsible. You had made a bad choice. Those of us that you have hurt will suffer for the rest of our lives.”

Jim Granger, who considered himself the grandfather of the kids, said, the crash occurred “530 days ago today and I think about them multiple times a day … their deaths left a massive hole in our hearts.”

The girl, who later died at the hospital, was taken off life support when there was no hope for survival. The fourth sister, a 10-year-old “did her makeup before she was taken off of life support, can you imagine what all that does to a 10-year-old?” Granger asked. “Takes away their innocence. All were devastated.” He told of the funeral that 350 people attended. The “students lost a lot of their innocence. For many it was the first people they knew who died, and the first funeral they attended.”

There were also character witnesses for Castiglia. Randy Lee Green, an Accomack firefighter and the assistant chief for Melfa’s department, said the defendant “would give you the shirt off his back … I don’t have a single bad word to say about Joseph. He didn’t just wake up that morning to hurt a family with children. That is not the person Joseph is. He would do anything in the world to help anybody. This was an accident.”

Abagail Stevens, a six-year friend of the defendant, called Castiglia an “all around good person.” He “was there for anyone no matter the relationship.”