The Catholic Church in Colorado is reportedly weighing whether to open a sainthood cause for Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old who died while tackling a gunman during the 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting.
Castillo, a senior just days from graduation, was the only student killed in the attack that left eight others wounded. Authorities credit his actions with saving many lives.
Colorado Springs Bishop James Golka confirmed to OSV News this summer that his office is “studying and discerning” whether to pursue the process, calling it a “massive undertaking.”
Two priests from St. Mark Catholic Church, where Castillo’s parents are parishioners, submitted 80 pages of supporting materials, citing his strong Catholic faith, acts of service, and the Church’s category of “offering of life.”
A former high school student accused of teaming up with a classmate to kill teens in a suburban Denver classroom in 2019 was convicted in 2021 on all 46 charges against him, including murder for the death of Castillo.
John Castillo, Kendrick Castillo’s father, projected a quiet, calm satisfaction after the verdict, saying he felt his slain son’s presence throughout the day.
“I’m sure he was looking down today,” Castillo said. “I believe, I feel, he was with us. He was probably with those jurors making their decision.
“This day was justice for him.”
The verdict against Devon Erickson came less than 24 hours after lawyers delivered closing arguments in his trial. Prosecutors said Erickson, then 20, was a full partner with Alec McKinney in the shooting that killed Kendrick Castillo, and wounded eight others at STEM School Highlands Ranch, in an unincorporated suburban community south of Denver.
The shots were fired in a darkened classroom of high school seniors, who were watching “The Princess Bride” in the days leading up to graduation. Castillo and two other students, Joshua Jones and Brendan Bialy, charged at Erickson after he pulled out a gun, which jammed after he fired four times.
Castillo was killed, but his bravery permitted other surviving victims to disarm the gunman and save countless lives.
“You cannot overstate the heroism of Kendrick Castillo,” prosecutor George Brauchler said in an online interview recently. “And on that particular day, if you said in classroom 107, who’s going to be your hero that averts a mass murder? I don’t know if he’s in the top half.
“I just think that people would have written him off as not that guy, but he turns out to be that guy.”
Castillo, remembered for his deep faith and passion for robotics, was posthumously honored by the Knights of Columbus and is already the subject of local memorials and scholarships.
Information from The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
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