A Northwest Side man facing a felony charge in connection with the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend was released from custody Saturday but ordered to turn in any guns to Chicago police, according to court records.
Robert Pasco, 42, was charged Friday night with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon and one misdemeanor count of possessing a firearm without a valid firearm owner’s identification card. He was described in a police report as the romantic partner of Edith Castrejon, 35, who was found shot to death early Thursday morning in a domestic-related incident in the Portage Park neighborhood.
A murder charge wasn’t filed in the case, although a police spokesperson said Saturday that the investigation “remains ongoing.” Police said, however, that they are “no longer speaking to the person of interest.” Pasco’s arrest report says the Cook County state’s attorney’s office approved the felony gun charge but declined to file murder charges in Castrejon’s death.
Portage Park man charged in connection to pregnant partner’s shooting death
The night of the shooting, Pasco was asleep in his bed with Castrejon and his three other small children were asleep in the same room, prosecutors said. He slept with a gun under his pillow, and during the night his girlfriend reached over and grabbed it, causing Pasco to wake up and shoot her in the upper chest, court records say.
Before police arrived, prosecutors said, Pasco put the 9mm ghost gun in a closet. Pasco is a convicted felon with multiple prior convictions for weapons offenses, according to court records. Ghost guns are unregistered firearms created from 3D printers.
Police found Castrejon lying in a pool of blood in the bedroom of an apartment on the 5800 block of West Newport Avenue, according to a police report. She was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which ruled her death a homicide.
At the hospital, doctors removed her unborn child, who was thought to have a roughly 1-in-4 chance of survival. According to the police report, Pasco and Castrejon were in a relationship and the child belonged to him.
Prosecutors argued during a hearing Saturday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building that Pasco “poses a real and present threat” to the community’s safety.
Judge William Fahy denied the state’s petition for detention and released Pasco from custody, but he ordered him to report to probation and surrender any firearms. His next court date is scheduled for Thursday.
A GoFundMe created to help support Castrejon’s family describes her as a “hard-working, fighting woman,” and said she leaves a “huge void” behind.
Caroline Kubzansky contributed to this report.
