Man Indicted in Christmas Eve Murder

July 1, 2022 – A North Memphis man has been indicted in the Christmas Eve shooting death of an apartment resident and the theft of his car which later was found wrecked a mile from the suspect’s home, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

A grand jury indicted 20-year-old Eric Alao Alvarez on counts of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony and especially aggravated robbery. He is being held without bond in the Shelby County Jail.

The incident began around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2021, when Juan Castillo, 41, was arriving home at the Cedar Creek Apartments on Steve Road near Prescott and I-240 in South Memphis.

Apartment surveillance video showed a man later identified as Alvarez approach Castillo, order him out of his car and then shoot him several times. Castillo died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Alvarez is seen driving away in Castillo’s vehicle, a 2012 Kia Sorrento, which was found wrecked and abandoned about 45 minutes later on Rosamond Avenue at North Highland, about a mile from an address on Lyndale Avenue that Alvarez has listed as his residence.

A handgun believed to have been used in the murder and Castillo’s identification were found in the abandoned vehicle. Alvarez was arrested the following day at a home in southeast Memphis.

The case is being handled by Felony Asst. Danielle McCollum and Asst. Dist. Atty. Regina Lucreziano of the District Attorney’s Vertical Prosecution Unit 1 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 7 (Veteran’s Court) and in Criminal Court Division 1.