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Bronx mother waits for son's killer to be sentenced

Diego Ortega did appear in court Friday, but was not sentenced in the death of Castelan.

Jodi-Juliana Powell

Jun 27, 2025, 7:06 PM

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A mother is pleading that the person who killed her son over a year ago will be sentenced.

Juana waited outside The Bronx County Hall of Justice on Friday to see if the person who killed her son would receive a sentence.

She says Diego Ortega stabbed her son, Baraquiel Castelan, in his neck, chest and arm after getting into an argument at El Chicano bar on Feb. 3, 2024.

My son was everything to me," she said. "He was always there when I needed him the most."

Each time she sits in the courtroom, she says she holds onto the hope that this will be the day her son gets the justice he deserves, and that somehow her heart will feel less pain.

"It hurts me, just like it would hurt any other people that don't get justice for their kids," she said.

Ortega did appear in court Friday, but was not sentenced in the death of Castelan. He was found guilty of murder, manslaughter and weapons charges.

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