Man gets 33 years in young mother’s murder

TYLER – A Tyler man was sentenced to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday to the murder of a 21-year-old mother of two who was killed in a 2020 shooting. Our news partner KETK reports Catalino Castillo Marin Jr., 23, was arrested in August 2020 after a Tyler shooting left 21-year-old Diamond Samantha Cruz dead and led to a manhunt for his arrest. According to court documents, a .40 caliber handgun was found lying near her body at the time of the incident “as well as spent casings and unfired rounds.” One person interviewed by investigators told them Marin came to her residence “with blood on his hands stating he and the victim…were fighting over the gun when she shot herself and stated ‘he did not mean to do it,’” according to an affidavit.

Documents state after Marin eventually turned himself in he gave conflicting accounts of what happened the night of the shooting. While detectives were speaking with Marin it was noted “he showed no apparent signs of remorse or concern toward Cruz.”