Pine Bluff, Arkansas

From June 28, 2005 Pine Bluff Commercial:

A Pine Bluff man arrested after a fatal shooting Sunday night was freed Monday pending further investigation.

Jerry Wilson, 37, of the 6300-block of Mulberry Street, had been held on probable cause of first-degree murder in connection with the death of James Castillo at a house in the 1300-block of Stowe Road.

"The state notified the court that the investigation is continuing and we're not ready to make a recommendation on charges at this time," Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple said.

The death of Castillo is being investigated as Jefferson County's fifth homicide of 2005 and the first outside the Pine Bluff city limits this year.

Castillo, 42, of the 6300-block of Shannon Road, was pronounced dead at 10:12 p.m. by Deputy Coroner John Lawson of apparent multiple gunshot wounds. The body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory at Little Rock for an autopsy.

Sheriff's deputies were sent to the house, off U.S. 270 near German Springs Road, at approximately 8:59 p.m. after Wilson called 911 and said an intruder had broken into the house and attacked him and his girlfriend, Mary Castillo.

Wilson said he shot the intruder several times, and identified him as James Castillo, the woman's ex-husband, authorities said.

Investigator Thaddeus Handley said in a report James and Mary Castillo had been separated for more than a year. James Castillo had not lived at the house on Stowe Road during that period, Handley said.

"There appeared to be a degree of justification in the shooting and I instructed our investigators to get the information to the prosecutor immediately so he could make a determination," Chief Deputy Gerald Robinson said.