Metro Teenager Facing Murder, Robbery Charges After Deadly SW OKC Shooting

A metro 16-year-old was charged this week for the murder of his friend. 

Oklahoma County prosecutors said Marco Castro, 16, killed his teenage friend earlier this month. 

Castro is in custody without bond in the Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Center. The teenager faces charges of murder, robbery and concealing a stolen weapon.

Two gunshots, that was what a witness told police they heard in the late night hours on Feb. 16. According to newly filed court documents, the witness saw 16-year-old Armani Rivera on the ground and motionless near Southwest 72nd and Indiana Avenue. 

“This was in a drainage ditch or culvert that lines in between the back side of businesses and the south tip of a neighborhood,” Sgt. Dillon Quirk with Oklahoma City Police Department said.

During the investigation, police noted Rivera’s wallet and phone were gone. Officers searched for hours by foot and air for the suspect last seen with Rivera. 

“These two know each other in some way,” Quirk said.  

The victim's family told News 9 the teenagers were friends and they allowed Castro to stay at their home a number of times. They felt betrayed when they learned the teenager was the prime suspect in their loved one’s death.

Hours into the investigation, officers located Castro at a home only blocks from the murder scene. 

Castro admitted to investigators he was with Rivera earlier that night listening to music.

Detectives noted in court documents, they never found the victim's phone or wallet but discovered a gun stashed in a toilet tank at Castro's home.

“That person was taken into custody,” Quirk said.

Police said the gun Castro hid at his home was reported stolen three years prior from a home in southwest Oklahoma City.