A 23-year-old Beach man, who is accused of allegedly shooting another Beach man in the head in early June 2016, made another appearance in Southwest District Court for a pretrial conference on Tuesday afternoon in Dickinson.
Gabriel Castro, 23 of Beach, has been charged with manslaughter, a Class B felony, and false reports to law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.
He allegedly shot Richard Young, 24 of Beach, in the head with a 1911 .45-caliber pistol on or around June 6 at Young's residence. Young died on June 10.
As previously reported by the Press, Castro had initially told Golden Valley County Sheriff's officials that Young had shot himself. However, he later confessed otherwise to an agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation on June 24.
Castro allegedly said in his confession that he was attempting to perform a trick when he shot Young. But he also said Young coerced him into firing the pistol, and that he was conflicted about pulling the trigger in that moment, the Press previously reported. Castro's confession also allegedly stated he pulled the trigger and included details about seeing Young in the gun's sights about three to five feet away from Young. This information was consistent with the state Medical Examiner's Office findings.
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Castro was previously charged with manslaughter, hindering law enforcement and providing false information to law enforcement. However, the hindering law enforcement charge, a Class C felony, was dismissed during a previous court date.
Golden Valley state's attorney Christina Wenko and Castro's court-appointed attorney Kevin McCabe both agreed that the trial could run four to five days because of the number of potential witnesses involved with the case.
The case will be set for at least a three-day trial some time in the future. Southwest District Judge William A. Herauf noted that the court calendar may not allow for a trial that long until early fall.
