All language subtitles for Last.Night.Out.S01E09.WEB.x264-NGP

September the 1st is set to be a big
day.

It was Erin's birthday.

She was having the time of her life.

It was her time to shine, and it was
amazing.

Erin has been counting down the days to
her 19th birthday.

She plans to celebrate.

She knew who she was. She had a lot of
confidence, which I admired.

Erin gets ready to go out dancing with
her friends. Her favorite thing was to

dance. I think it was kind of a big deal
that she was able to go to a place like

that.

Erin was looking for a wonderful
birthday celebration and night out with

friends. The celebratory mood shifts
when Erin's on -off boyfriend, Joshua

Garcia, arrives.

This was not a good relationship.

I was definitely uneasy about Aaron
going out that night, knowing that Josh

going to be around.

I told her I don't like him, I don't
think it's safe, and I don't want him

because I don't think he's a good
person.

His friend was going to be driving them,
and I said, well, you've got precious

cargo. He said, absolutely, you can have
a good time and we'll be home early.

No one knew it would be her last night
out.

Like something in me, like my soul, you.

She was gone.

In San Antonio, Texas, 18 -year -old
Erin Castro eagerly awaits her birthday.

Birthdays are always a big deal in our
family, but Erin had a way of making her

birthday a bigger deal in our family.

So it was exciting because she's the
baby, and we always like to shower her

a lot of love.

Erin loved the bus.

Loved it.

It's her day, and we are doing
everything Erin loves to do.

She was like, I'm so excited.

I'm going to be older.

There was a lot of positive things that
were coming up for Erin. We were looking

for a car for her.

She was looking to go to school.

There was a lot of things that were
exciting to make this birthday extra

special.

She was working at her mom's restaurant.

She loved it there.

We worked as waitresses together.

It wasn't so much work for us. It was
more just hanging out with family.

She made sure to let everyone know that
her birthday was coming up.

The customers loved her. She would be
laughing, joking, doing the things, and

it'd be like, Erin, you have to get to
work.

They loved her, and she loved them.

She had regular customers Monday through
Friday.

But she wanted everyone to make sure
they came back on Saturday for her

birthday.

On Saturday, September 1, 2018, Erin
turns 19.

She has a shift at the hot diner.

No bother that it was her birthday and
she was going to work.

It was exactly where she wanted to be
that day.

Everybody that she told came in
throughout the whole day and would come

her happy birthday and bring her gifts.
It was like a whole thing.

She always was super giggly and really
radiant. She was just so positive and

just full of life that I loved about
her.

We all came to the hut to come see her,
and we spent hours

sitting at the table just talking to
her.

She was having the time of her life.

I was like, aren't you supposed to be
working?

And she was like, yeah, but it's okay.

She wanted to spend time with my great
-grandmother, and she wanted to spend

time with us.

We were there with her all day long, and
at the end of the day, her stepdad had

bought her a cake with a bunch of
animals on it. It looked like for maybe

preschooler, but it was perfect for her.

We all sang her happy birthday. They
sang her happy birthday quite a bit

throughout the day.

This place was crowded.

We would close at 3, but everybody was
just enjoying time, spending time seeing

her. So I don't think we closed until
later because of that.

It was just a great day.

The past year hasn't been easy for Erin.

A turbulent relationship with her high
school sweetheart has caused a lot of

heartache.

Erin and Joshua met when Erin was 14.

This was not a good relationship.

It was toxic. It was controlling.

Nobody liked Joshua Garcia.

Nobody wanted her to spend time with
him.

I told her I don't like him because I
don't think he's a good person.

One of the things I think that was
hardest for her friends and family was

kind of rollercoaster relationship, not
only in terms of the dynamics, but in

terms of them breaking up and getting
back together.

On the evening of her birthday, Erin
plans to go dancing.

She and her friends had been talking
about going to Club Lush for about a

and they decided they were going to go
the night of her birthday.

She loved, loved dancing.

Even her mom was telling her, you know,
if you don't end up with a career, you

don't get a job, you should be a backup
dancer, because she was great at it.

So there was like an 18 and up club.

I think it was kind of a big deal that
she was able to go to a place like that.

Erin's friends arranged to meet at her
home before getting ready together.

Our friends started coming over, a
couple of her girlfriends, and you heard

in the other room laughing and having
fun and doing all the things that girls

together.

She had music playing loud, putting on
makeup.

That was one of the main things, putting
on makeup. It took forever, now that I

think about it.

She had ordered a beautiful dress and
some shoes to go, and

that was what she was going to wear to
go out, and she looked stunning.

Erin's mother, Raina, is surprised by
the appearance of one guest.

I go in to check on, you know, just to
say hi, and Josh was there.

I was under the impression it was going
to be her and her girlfriends.

But it's her day, and by all means, I
wanted her to have a good time.

Garcia wants Aaron to ride with him, and
her friends are strongly encouraging

her to ride with them.

I said, would you like me to Uber you?
He said, no, that his friend was going

be driving them.

And I said, well, you've got precious
cargo.

The phone calls almost immediately
started.

She tells Rena, Mom, I'm in the car with
Joshua.

And she starts talking about that she's
getting concerned and that things are

getting bad.

Now I just wanted her home and started
to tell her, let me go get you.

Let me go pick you up.

Forty minutes later, her mom gets
another call.

hysterical, crying, that he had hit her.

She's screaming.

And all of a sudden she says, he stabbed
me.

And that's when I heard like the

worse gut -wrenching scream.

The phone went dead.

Erin Castro's birthday celebrations have
taken a terrifying turn.

What should have been a night of dancing
has descended into violence.

Her mother, Raina, is frantic with worry
about her youngest child, Erin, the

baby of the family.

Erin had two older sisters and an older
brother.

She was funny.

She could be a little annoying at times.

But at the end of the day, I saw her as
like my baby.

I even had her saved in my phone as the
baby.

Growing up here in South Texas, we've
got...

Hardly any winter, so it's warm all year
long.

A favorite thing for all the kids to do
was we'd always gravitate to my parents'

house, to the swimming pool.

Erin was fearless. She did everything
100%. She had a lot of confidence, which

admired. And for her to be so young and
for me to be the oldest one, I admired

that from her.

I love you, Aaron.

I thought she was beautiful. She

was just an amazing person.

I honestly didn't believe that anyone
could make Aaron feel bad about the way

she looked.

I didn't.

feel that that was possible because of
how high

she held herself in her standards.

But when that dam broke, it came rushing
down. It happened so fast.

14, Erin enrolls at John Marshall High
School where she meets Joshua Garcia.

Erin loved school.

She didn't have to put in too much
effort.

It just came naturally.

She told me she had a crush.

I think she thought that I would have
said something as in like, you're too

young.

So she would just tell me, she's like,
oh, I have a crush and that's it.

She knows me too well.

I guess a little bit furthermore into
their relationship was when I started

noticing, because she would go on dates
and stuff.

Getting a little older, you know, she'd
ask for a little bit more space.

But I trusted Erin, and I trust her
judgment.

I took them to the movies, and I picked
them up.

I was like, well, as long as he's making
you happy, then I'm happy for you.

Erin's boyfriend's life is very
different from her own.

They didn't really have much in common
from my understanding.

She comes from a very, very supportive
family, very loving family.

His family is much more complicated,
much more chaotic.

I have other opinions from other people
that have said, you know, that Josh is

sweet and, you know, kind and stuff like
that. I never saw that side of Josh. I

don't think the people he hung out with
were...

that good of a crowd.

As the relationship continues, those
around Erin sense a change in her.

And I didn't see anything until, I would
say, her junior year. And it was very

subtle.

It was just something wasn't right.

She'd be like, hey, can you pick me up
from school? I don't want to be here.

So I thought that was a little weird,
and that's why I was like, well, aren't

you, like, isn't your boyfriend there?
Don't you want to spend time with him?

And she'd be like, no, I just want to go
home.

I definitely saw a change in her
confidence.

She would brush it away and always have
an explanation for it.

But I definitely saw changes even in her
makeup, in her clothes.

She was like, I don't want to wear
makeup, and it kind of shocked me.

because she was the one that was, like,
very presentable.

Hey, what's wrong?

Like, are you okay?

She'd be like, yeah, I'm fine.

I just didn't feel like wearing makeup,
which was really weird.

It doesn't take long for Erin to start
confiding in her friends about what's

going on behind the scenes.

She was telling me, like, you know, Josh
was telling me, no, you're ugly, you're

fat, you have acne, things like that.

So he's constantly trying to control
her. He's constantly trying to kind of

undermine and undercut her and make her
feel like nobody else would want you.

You're lucky to have me.

Erin has kept Joshua's cruelty hidden
from her family.

But when the school gets involved, that
all changes.

Like most teenagers, her prized
possession was her backpack with all her

in it, makeup, etc.

And somebody from the school had called.

Her boyfriend had been arguing with her.
He'd taken her backpack away and

wouldn't give it back and fled the
school because he didn't want her

makeup.

The relationship continues.

So do the calls from the school.

He was yelling at her in the hallway,
calling her awful names in front

of everyone.

Then I'd hear that he had looked through
Aaron's phone.

Aaron had got a text from another boy
and that Joshua, who was looking through

her phone, had seen this text and
actually attacked this boy and broken

nose.

We had mediations with the deputy that
patrols the

school and makes sure the children are
safe.

And I'll never forget that her senior
year, he looked at her

to her face and said, one day he's going
to kill you.

Raina presses charges against Garcia.

He's expelled from the school, and Erin
stops seeing him.

Her sister encourages her to seek out
less serious, less unhealthy

relationships.

She had crushes and stuff, and I'd be
like, well, you should talk to him.

You should go for it. You're not
married.

I thought she was moving on. I was, in a
way, happy.

She was speaking to somebody else.

Josh. I guess ended up finding out that
she was speaking to somebody else.

And he went and reached out to that guy
and let him know, you know, to stay away

from Aaron. If he didn't, he was going
to hurt him.

Aaron was, since he could talk, was
excited about wearing big dresses and

makeup.

So I knew that prom would be a very
important part of Aaron's school time.

Aaron, on the one hand, being starting
to be told by...

Joshua Garcia, that she's not attractive
or she's heavy.

She's unfortunately getting some
confirmation of this because people who,

especially boys at school, will have
nothing to do with her.

But the irony is it's because of Joshua
Garcia. It's because of his actions.

They're afraid to be around Aaron
because of what this guy might do to

I felt so bad for Aaron.

She was becoming isolated.

But us as a family, we always try to
help each other.

And my amazing son -in -law, he said,

well, I'm not from here, Erin. Let's go.

Erin always looked beautiful. But that
night, she glowed.

She just was so happy and full of hope,

you know.

Confident Aaron.

Joshua Garcia always has a strategy to
get Aaron back.

Whether it be him calling and saying he
was going to hurt himself or a sub story

about how his family didn't care about
him.

She felt sorry for him.

She wanted to help him in any way
because she was loving.

And I think she tried.

to change how he was.

An abusive relationship doesn't start
when somebody hits you.

And it's so important for us to talk
about the signs that are not violent

physically, because oftentimes the
physical violence, it is the third

a football game.

There were instances that Erin would
have bruises on her leg.

Or arms and she could always make an
excuse for them.

Erin's friends believe Joshua Garcia is
the one causing her injuries.

They also believe Erin is in real
danger.

Erin had told me to pick her up. She was
at the apartment of Josh.

We got to my apartment.

And she was bruised up from her arm
because he was, like, grabbing her.

And she was crying, saying that he was
being, like, ugly towards her.

I believe Aaron at first wanted to
leave, and he wasn't letting her leave.

And he had to go gun out on Aaron.

So this was a serious domestic violence,
which is really shocking when you have

somebody who is that young.

I was planning to go out to a house
party with our mutual friend.

And Erin had called me on my phone that
she was with Josh.

She said she was going to walk home.

It was just a 10 -minute walk.

We ended up leaving the party.

We tried calling.

We tried texting.

She never responded.

I felt like, I don't know if I heard a
whimper.

So I turned on the light, and when I
looked at her, her face was bruised.

She had awful road burn on her leg.

She tried to say that she got into a
fight with some girls.

And I immediately said, no, Erin, no.

The truth is more shocking than they can
imagine.

Erin has been subjected to a thickening
attack.

He beat her, broke her nose.

Threw her out of the moving vehicle, ran
her over, and then went looking for

her.

Aaron is terrified, and she ends up
hiding in the bushes from him.

And he is circling around and looking
for her.

And he ends up finding her, and he
wrestles her back in the car.

And he got her back in his car.

And then he stopped at the gas station
by the house and was attempting to clean

her up and put makeup on her.

And then he proceeded to leave her off
down the street from the house and had

walk home scared with a broken leg.

To see her like that hurt.

We called the police immediately.

made a police report, filed charges.

I took her to the hospital, and that was
the second time that a complete

stranger would tell her to her face that
he was going to kill her.

Sixteen -year -old Aaron Castro has been
subjected to a violent and sustained

attack at the hands of on -off
boyfriend, 17 -year -old Joshua Garcia.

He's charged with aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon and detained

his indictment by a grand jury.

With Garcia behind bars, Aaron's family
are relieved to see an opportunity for a

fresh start, one without him.

Everybody was definitely involved in
trying to have Erin know how much she

loved.

Maybe it was something awful that we
were going to go through, but she was

to come out as a victor on the other
side.

Finally, I felt like she was serious.

Your spark is back. You're happy.
There's no reason for you to even think

talk to that person anymore.

Something was going to come out of it
good, and it did for a while.

The phone calls started even when he was
in jail.

And it was all directed at, it's your
fault.

Everybody who knew Erin talked about
what a giving person that she was and

a loving person that she was. And I
think that's for the most part a

You have that personality and you
encounter the wrong person.

That empathy and that compassion, it can
almost be used as a weapon against you.

It was hard for me trying to stay and
save her from him when she just wanted

save him.

I did start to see the anxious Erin came
back.

You know, when that phone would ring,
she'd have to get to it and be private

with it.

I found out later on that he recanted
her story.

Erin submitted an affidavit saying that
the injuries she sustained were not

Joshua Garcia's fault.

She caused them herself, she said. He
was released from jail.

She didn't present any charges.

And it was really heartbreaking to watch
that she still wanted to be with him

after he hurt her.

We had a lot of conversations about what
was holding her.

I can remember us sitting on my bed and
talking about it and her crying.

And I believe it was a fear that maybe
all the things that he had told her

be true.

This kind of coercive control and abuse
can wear anybody down over time.

Erin believed things will be different
this time.

In reality, Garcia's behavior is getting
worse.

There is no word that Aaron is safe from
him.

I know he had broken into Aaron's house.
I'm not sure if it was like once or

twice where Aaron was afraid sometimes
to go to sleep.

It was just like chipping away from her
inch by inch. That's what his goal was,

to just chip her slowly, bring
everything down.

It was the hardest time I've had as a
mother, wrestling with what to do.

And my baby, she was my daughter. I so
desperately wanted to

fix it.

And I obviously knew that this
relationship was going to continue.

So we were out one day, and we were
going to go to lunch. And she said,

was going to hang out with Josh.

And I made the decision to ask her to
invite him to come

with us.

I think I was desperate at the time, and
I was just trying to be encouraging.

And I told him, you know, just be good
to my daughter, and I'll be good to you,

and things will work out.

And it seemed promising for a while.

But then the whole, like, roller coaster
of arguments started again.

There was an element of fear.

Aaron felt like he was omnipotent, that
he could do anything he wanted to

without there being really any
repercussions.

I recall one time he had told Aaron when
she was at my apartment that he was

going to show up with a gun and kill us
and things like that.

Erin kept watching through the window.
She was scared.

It went downhill pretty fast, and before
I knew it, it was her birthday was

coming up.

That morning, she woke up excited and
happy.

She said, you know, I got to get to
work.

I think she knew she had an audience
that was going to be waiting for her.

I was not working.

I picked up my great -grandmother, and
we all came to the hut to come see her.

I felt like she was in a good headspace.

I thought there was a click in her head
that she's ready to move on and do the

things that she wants to do.

The conversation we had at the table,
while she was working was about her

to college.

Erin wanted to be a veterinarian and
loved animals ever since she was a

We had three adopted dogs that she had
brought home.

I still have Lola with me.

As evening comes, Erin prepares for the
next phase of her birthday celebrations.

She's going to get together with some of
her friends and start celebrating with

them.

Erin has gotten all dressed up in a
special outfit and done her makeup and

everything, and Joshua Garcia shows up.

Joshua and his friend are drinking.

He takes Erin aside to speak to her.

Within minutes, Her friends see that
she's in tears and had taken off a

glamorous birthday outfit.

Before I knew it, she was changing. She
said, well, I just didn't feel

comfortable in that.

It's all about him and him exerting
control over her.

Josh affected her self -esteem and stuff
like that.

He would tell her that she was bad.

And she was telling me, like, you know,
Josh was telling me that my clothes

didn't fit me, that it was too tight on
me, things like that.

Even on her birthday, which is such a
special occasion for Aaron, that he is

only able to come in and to start
controlling her, her mood, her feelings,

her demeanor, what she wears, but he's
willing to do that.

I was definitely uneasy about Aaron
going out that night, just knowing that

was going to be around.

Erin is supposed to ride with her
friends. Now she says she will travel

Josh and his friend. They set off in the
green SUV that Josh has borrowed from

his brother.

They've been gone less than an hour when
Raina receives a call from Erin.

They were fighting and I said, well,
it's your birthday.

You shouldn't be fighting.

The fighting escalates quickly.

Erin gets out of the car at a gas
station and calls her friends.

Erin texts her friends, we're fighting,
please come pick me up.

Her friends can't find out where she is
exactly.

And they're also, you know, frustrated
because they're calling her.

She's not answering.

Her friends, her thinking.

We've heard this song before.

I started to get the understanding that
she was not with her friends and that

she was with him and his friends.

Really start to panic.

Josh has got Aaron back in his car. He's
driving towards the Camp Bullis Road.

He called his brother to meet him.

He gets there driving the silver Lexus.

Initially what he sees is Garcia in the
front seat hitting Aaron in the back

seat.

His friend manages to pull him out of
the car. When he does...

And Joshua jumps in the back seat and
continues to hit Erin.

I'm calling and calling and calling and
calling, like, oh, just redial, redial,

redial.

All these texts that I was sending her,
like, answer your phone now. Answer your

phone now.

Forty minutes later, her mom gets
another call.

And Erin is panicked.

I can't get out of the car. I don't know
where I am.

She's screaming, and all of a sudden she
says, Joshua stabbed me.

I'm bleeding in my neck, I'm bleeding in
my face, and I can't get out of the

car. And all of a sudden she hears this
just blood -curdling scream.

At this point, Garcia grabs her by the
hair, throws her on the ground, kicks

in the ribs, and kicks her in the head.

and she's not really moving.

And the phone goes, Dad.

I could see the time was still going, so
she was on the other end.

And so I kept saying, Erin, Erin, and I
didn't want to hang up, so I got the

neighbor to call the police for me.

Erin is laying on the ground.

She is behind the green 4Runner.

that they arrived in, and she's also in
front of the silver Lexus that his

brother drove.

So his brother decides to get in the car
and turn the 4Runner around, and all of

a sudden, Joshua Garcia jumped in the
Lexus, accelerates, and rolls over

Aaron's body, runs over her, and then
stops, reverses,

and rolls over her again, backs up over
her.

He gets out of the car and he kicks her
and they all drive off.

Her mom spends the next hour and 20
minutes or so hanging onto this phone,

desperately hoping that her daughter is
going to come back on the line.

Police are triangulating Erin's phone
and have been briefed to look out for

green SUV that Joshua's driving.

I thought, you know, if we just get
enough information, we'll be able to

her and bring her home.

Police would basically track the signal
where Erin's phone had pinged last.

And they drive to Campbell's Road. They
find Erin on the side of the road in the

breakdown lane.

The police showed up at the house, and I
think I just fell to my knees and said,

no, no,

no. Like, I knew, like, something in me,
like, my soul knew

she was gone.

to think of having to go through life
without my daughter.

I wouldn't think that was possible.

has been beaten and run over repeatedly.

Her injuries are too catastrophic to
survive.

Just hours into her 19th birthday, she
is pronounced dead.

Ex -boyfriend Joshua Garcia is the prime
suspect, but he is on the run.

Police are on the lookout for this
green.

you know, forerunner.

And they noticed a silver Lexus driving
off kind of, you know, fast.

After they find Aaron and realize kind
of what has happened, they become

concerned that perhaps this car was
involved.

And so they began looking for this car
as well.

They were looking for him.

I had put him like an address that I
knew.

We have Joshua driving the silver Lexus.
And we have this brother, he's in the

green forerunner.

At some point, they stop at a Walmart.

And they switch.

Garcia is making his way back home.

He makes a phone call to his mom and
tells her, essentially, that he has run

over his girlfriend.

They all meet back at this Studio 6
hotel.

CCC footage shows Joshua Garcia in the
parking lot.

There's some video of...

Joshua throwing some shoes away in the
gutter.

When police would show up initially,
Joshua's not there.

But later on, they find out that he has
returned to the hotel. They show up and

they arrest him.

The two vehicles are recovered.

A knife is found in the SUV and the
Lexus shows clear damage as well as

bloodstains. but Joshua Garcia accepts
no responsibility for Aaron's death.

When they bring Joshua Garcia in for
questioning, he says Aaron suddenly

him as he's driving and that he doesn't
know what to do, so he lets her out of

the car and drives off.

She may have fallen down, but he had no
idea that she was dead.

Later, however, he acknowledges... He
did hit Erin with a knife, only, of

course, because Erin is attacking him as
he's driving.

And that, yes, he did run over her once
with a car because he was afraid she was

going to call the police and he was
going to have to go back to jail.

Charged with Erin's murder.

Garcia spends almost three years in Bear
County Jail, his family unable to raise

the $200 ,000 bail.

On his 23rd birthday, he appeared in the
227th District Court. He pleaded

guilty to Aaron's murder and was
sentenced to 35 years in prison.

He will be eligible for parole after
serving half that sentence.

The nature of death murder is...

Incredibly violent.

It is brutal.

He is literally trying to erase this
person from the face of the earth and

leaving her on the side of the road like
a piece of garbage.

They never ever even looked at us or to
Aaron's mom or ever tried to apologize.

It's like Aaron's life didn't matter to
him.

They gave him 32 years and I feel like
he's only going to be 50.

He can still date and he can still live
his life, and that's not justice because

she's not here. She can't have the life
that she wanted or deserved.

Erin's loved ones will never know the
truth of what happened that night, but

they believe Erin had finally had enough
of Garcia.

That day on her birthday, I do feel like
she was ready to leave.

I do feel like she was going to break up
and move on

with her life.

I feel like there was an argument that
happened because I know something had

to set him off, and I feel like that was
the argument that she didn't want to be

with him anymore.

Joshua Garcia felt that Aaron was his
possession, and he could essentially do

whatever he wanted to with her.

And that if she didn't go along with all
the things that, in his mind, a

relationship was supposed to be like,
that she deserved whatever she got.

They did show up to the funeral, but I
couldn't walk inside. It was too hard

me.

I got a lot of support,

but I also got a lot of...

People that reached out to me and let me
know that they had been in

relationships like this or their
daughter was in a relationship like

And I know that it was becoming very

evident that this wasn't just an
isolated thing with Aaron, that this was

problem.

My mom called me and was telling me that
You know, we have to do something.

So we just grabbed all our family
members and we talked about the idea of

starting a foundation.

If this family didn't do something, then
who would?

The Aaron Rios Castro Foundation was
established to tackle domestic abuse.

It aims to enlighten, educate and
support young people.

giving advice and scholarships.

Those are conversations that have to be
had.

We can't brush those things under the
rug. We have to take them serious, and

need to educate early.

When I go speak at high schools, all
these girls remind me of Erin.

They could have all been Erin.

And to try to help those, to try to help
those that are going through something.

We want them to know that they're not
alone going through this. And I feel

I should be one of the ones to talk
about it.

My sister's life was taken because of
this, and I'm going to say something

And I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

To share our story keeps her alive with
me.

But I think the biggest thing is seeing
how it's helped other teenagers.

Joshua Garcia's warped ideas of love
meant that Erin's 19th birthday was her

last night out, leaving behind a family
who strived to associate that

anniversary with positivity and love for
Erin.

She wouldn't want to hide her story.

She'd want the world to know, and if she
could save one life, then we're saving

everybody.

That's the spirit of Erin.

She'd never want one of her friends to
go through what she went through.

She'd never want a stranger to go
through what she went through.

That's Erin.